Masquerade
by LucretiaDecoy
Summary: Everyone is surprised to find out that Hiei is dating Botan - especially Hiei. Something strange is afoot, and the unusual interactions between Hiei and Botan are barely the beginning. This is a story about love and feathers and liars and shadows and strength and heroes, but most importantly, this is a story of two halves. (Emergence of material from writing blog)
1. Who You Are

**Chapter 1 – Who You Are**

"We will be moving two clicks westward and one click northward, and this is obviously a significant advance on our previous endeavours – in no small part thanks to the relationships we have been able to build with our counterparts within Demon World's Border Patrol – and, as everybody here knows, triangulating the distance we are talking about here amounts to an expanse of space that will require full-time effort from every officer in the SDF: which brings me to exactly why I have called you all here today. As we will be thus engaged, it has become clear we need to nominate some trustworthy, savvy, combat-experienced individuals to man the existing line for us as we push this advance. Koenma has given me a list of names he believes would be capable for this task. Ayame?"

Ryuhi turned to the pale-faced, dark-haired and dark-clothed ferry girl who duly stepped forward from the crowd upon hearing her name. She bowed her head politely and Ryuhi nodded at her in reply.

"Botan?"

Ryuhi was irritated when nobody responded instantly, but held her patience in check as the crowd of ferry girls and ogres before her – most of whom looked like a truly pathetic rag-tag group of cretins – glanced about between themselves with obvious confusion and a hint of concern.

"Botan?" Ryuhi repeated, scanning over the group, her firmer tone having clearly ruffled them all and yet still failed to produce the one she sought. "Which one of you is Botan?"

"It's her!" an ogre squawked, his voice cracking as he pointed shaking hands at a ferry girl standing near the back and at the far side of the group.

Ryuhi's eyes thinned as she fixed them onto the only ferry girl dressed in pink, whose face was barely visible behind a book she was leaning into and frantically scribbling in.

"Botan?" Ryuhi said sternly, causing one ferry girl to yelp in fear and one ogre to cower over entirely. "Botan!"

"Botan!" Koenma shrieked. "Why aren't you paying attention?"

Botan finally lifted her head from her book, where she proceeded to – much to Ryuhi's chagrin – first fix her attention onto Koenma.

"I am listening, Sir," she said. "I heard what Officer Ryuhi said."

"Did you really?" Ayame asked her in a low voice that Ryuhi suspected was meant to be subtle.

Botan turned to Ayame and nodded before finally turning to face Ryuhi.

"I did!" she said, beaming brilliantly despite the inappropriateness of the expression. "I heard every single thing you said about clicking triangles with the Border Patrol. I'm not sure what sort of game "clicking triangles" is, but I think it's just super that we have such a great relationship with Demon World now that even the officers of the SDF can play games with demons–"

"Botan!" Koenma barked. "You're embarrassing me!"

Ryuhi smoothly and swiftly marched forwards, not even needing to hesitate or break stride as the crowd hurriedly parted to allow her passage. She came to a halt directly in front of Botan, whereupon she snatched the book from the ferry girl's hands. To her surprise, Botan gladly released it, and remained unfazed as it was taken from her. Ryuhi gave a long glower before lowering her eyes to the recovered journal, finding the pages littered with crude cartoon drawings of cats and catlike people, accompanied by haphazard passages of text that rambled on at length about complete nonsense.

"What exactly were you writing about that you felt was so important that you could ignore the speech I was delivering about Spirit World's movements within Demon World?" Ryuhi asked her.

"I was just writing down what you said about the snack packs the SDF carry, and how the blue is your favourite," Botan replied, pointing a sleeve-covered finger at the pages. "I write everything down about all my friends. Every detail. It's all in there."

Ryuhi arched her eyebrows at Botan, but the ferry girl did not falter with her brilliant smile nor did any of the sparkle fade from her pink eyes. Ryuhi slammed the book shut, and although everyone else in the room – including Koenma – flinched at the sound, Botan remained unfalteringly bright and cheerful before her. Ryuhi growled out a sigh and then thumbed through the pages of the book, flicking them loudly until she came across an especially messy collection of pages – a literally messy collection of pages, as fragments of dried flowers fell from them, and some were partially stuck together by what appeared to be browned honey. Ryuhi stopped there, smoothing open the pages.

"Those are my notes about my good friend Yukina," Botan explained. "We used the book to press some of her favourite flowers too!"

Ryuhi slammed the book shut again before slapping it against Botan's chest. Botan's smile finally faltered as she hurriedly grabbed at the book to accept it back from Ryuhi, who quickly turned from her, spinning on her heels until she had located Koenma.

"Find me someone else," she told him sternly. "Someone competent."

"Well, Ryuhi, Botan has actually had extensive experience in Demon World," Koenma replied, clearly feeling foolish but trying his best to hide it. "She has had hands-on experience working with demons when she was assistant to the Spirit Detective–"

"Ah yes, the Spirit Detective," Ryuhi said with a sigh. "And which "Spirit Detective" would this be? The one that went insane and tried to unleash the worst of Demon World upon the living, the recluse who rejected all three worlds so hard she went to live in a cabin in the woods, or the Mazoku?"

Koenma opened his mouth and held up a finger, but dissolved into a sheepish grin when Ryuhi merely folded her arms and sneered down at him.

"I'll find someone else," he quietly concluded.

"And be quick about it," Ryuhi grumbled.

She began to leave, but before she had left completely, she heard Botan ask if the "class was over". Clearly, she thought to herself, Koenma had no idea about the right sort of person to take on a mission surviving on the dangerous borderlands between Spirit World and Demon World, a place where it was possible that D-class, C-class – and sometimes even the occasional B-class – demons could potentially wander.

* * *

Koenma was marching through the corridors of his father's temple as fast as his little legs could carry him. He had exited his office so briskly, the door had slammed shut behind him before George had even finished that not-so-silent, not-so-subtle, sigh of relief he always expended whenever he saw his boss irritated and realised that none of the ire would be directed at him. Koenma did not even have the time to consider such things though: he had to find Botan as soon as possible. And fortunately, that was no difficult task, as she was – as she often did when she was wandering aimlessly around in Spirit World with nothing to do – humming very loudly, and so all he had to do to track her down was follow the sound of her lilting, vaguely fey, tune.

After what felt like several minutes, the elusive ferry girl finally came into his line of sight, walking at a leisurely pace towards him, her face still stuck in the same book she had been poring over during the meeting with the SDF earlier that day.

"Botan!" he barked, stopping directly in her path.

He had expected to startle her with his harsh tone, and although she did flinch, the brilliant smile she greeted him with clearly indicated she did not appreciate just how irate he was.

"Oopsy Sir, I almost tripped right over you!" she said, lowering her book enough that he could clearly see her face over the top of the pages.

"Botan, the whole purpose of that meeting this morning was that you joined the team to guard the border between Spirit World and Demon World!" Koenma immediately spat back, seeing little need to hesitate in getting to the point.

"Oh, I see," Botan replied, looking far too surprised and sounding far too relaxed for his liking.

"Can you not put that book down for even ten minutes?" he shot back.

"I like to keep note of all the important things in here, Sir. I was just taking notes."

"Give me the book."

"Well, the thing about that is, the way I write my notes is in a way that probably really only I can understand them – they are written in my voice, as a reminder for my brain – and reading my notes won't mean anything to anyone else–"

"Give me the book right now, Botan!"

Botan closed her notebook and duly handed it down to the prince.

"Well you could at least say "please"…" she grumbled as he grabbed the book out of her hand.

Koenma ignored her – despite the fact that she began humming again, albeit at a much lower volume than usual – and he began flipping through the pages. All manners of items fell out of the pages as he proceeded, from glitter to dried plant matter to feathers and even some sort of hair or fur. The pages were haphazardly filled with text that ranged from neatly written lines to hastily written notes, pictures that ranged from semi-impressive in quality to nearly illegible scribbled doodles. Not all of the handwriting was even Botan's own. Some of the pages were just lipstick kiss-marks in differing shades. Eventually Koenma reached a long section of themed information.

"Oh, that's my section on Yusuke, Sir," Botan offered.

Koenma grunted and continued on.

"And that's the part about Kuwabara, and that's the bit on Keiko – ooh and that's the part about Shizuru, which is a little bit fragmented because some of those pages are about Yukina and some are–"

"Botan, this notebook was issued to you in order for you to take notes at your morning briefing so that you were prepared with all relevant background information to meet, greet and escort the souls assigned to you for the day."

"Yes, I use it for that too."

Koenma sighed, one hand still supporting the underside of Botan's notebook as the other hand slapped over the pages.

"I would feel a lot more reassured if you were helping out at the front line instead of drawing pictures of…"

Koenma paused to try to fathom exactly what he was looking at.

"That's a picture of Kurama's Death Plant," Botan explained.

Koenma slowly lifted his head to look directly up at her.

"It's actually very pretty Sir – oh, but what am I saying, you already know that, you saw it too!" she said. "At the Dark Tournament, remember?"

Koenma lowered his head again and continued through the book, all the while painfully aware that Ryuhi had been looking through it that very morning, and would surely have been even more critical of the contents than he felt right then. He only broke pace when the information before him suddenly changed format – a change so drastic, he thought perhaps he had misjudged Botan after all, as he appeared to have found pages upon pages of formally written passages that looked more akin to the contents of Ayame's notebook.

"Well Botan, I–"

"Gimme that!"

Koenma froze, both amazed and offended at just how fast and just how roughly Botan had snatched back her notebook. His eyes were barely fast enough to catch her stowing it up a sleeve, but he did not need to be quite so quick to notice the pinkening of her cheeks and the twitching of her lips. He opened his mouth, intent on telling her that he was actually pleased to find that she did appear to be using at least half of the book correctly, but before he could speak, she began talking at him in a slightly flustered and almost defensive tone.

"So what if I write that sort of thing in my notebook?" she said. "It's my notebook – my personal notebook – to write whatever I please in! If I want to use it as a diary or use it to write about Hiei that has nothing to do with you or anyone else!"

"Hiei?"

There were many things amiss with Botan's manner, tone and words, but for some reason, the inclusion of the fire demon amidst them had seemed to most unusual.

"It's none of your business!" Botan snapped. "A girl's allowed to have some privacy, isn't she?"

"Privacy?" Koenma echoed, suddenly far more confused than annoyed.

"This isn't fair!" she wailed. "I don't go into your personal belongings and start judging you!"

"I… Wasn't judging you…"

"Maybe I don't want to be on the frontline with the SDF anyway! Did you ever think of that? Maybe I've already had my time fighting demons and now I just want to relax!"

It was rare for Koenma to be at a loss for words, but, in that moment, he was genuinely speechless.

"After everything," Botan began, her tone even and calm despite her face being redder than ever. "After Yusuke dying and coming back as a demon, after you being ousted from Spirit World and all the confusion with you coming back in, after Genkai dying… I just wanted to relax…"

Koenma nodded.

"Okay Botan," he said. "I understand. If you change your mind, do let me know, because I do think you'd be a valuable asset on the frontline."

"I don't think Officer Bossy Boots would agree with you…" Botan muttered.

Koenma smiled and Botan returned his gesture, looking almost as cheerful as she had when he had first encountered her in the hallway.

"Well then, I'll be on my way," he said, turning around and starting back for his office.

"I'll see you on Monday," Botan called after him.

"Monday?" Koenma muttered. "But today is Friday! Hey, wait, I didn't authorise you to go another one of your parties with…"

Koenma looked about himself but saw no trace of Botan, other than a single feather floating through the air around the small dusting of glitter that had fallen out of her notebook. He sighed in resignation: he was too busy to go after her, so he would simply make her work double shifts when she did come back.

* * *

Kurama tried to chew his lunch more slowly, if only to delay having to answer Kuwabara's question. It was a glorious summer's day, and they had decided to meet outside on the lawns of the university campus instead of in the library, and, as he often did, Kuwabara had asked Kurama to read over one of his assignments as a sense-checking exercise. Across the picnic table, Kuwabara was fidgeting more fervently than Kurama had ever seen him do, and so he decided that he could not delay any longer. He swallowed the contents of his mouth and forced a gentle smile.

"Kuwabara, were you, by chance, a tad distracted?" he asked.

As he finished his question, Kurama moved his eyes to Kuwabara, who he found to be glancing frantically between himself and something behind and beyond his left shoulder.

"Kuwabara, are you by chance a tad distracted right now?" Kurama asked him, his smile coming more easily then.

"Um, Kurama?" Kuwabara began.

"Yes, Kuwabara?" Kurama prompted.

"Um, there's this really pretty girl who keeps looking over at us."

Kurama sighed softly and placed Kuwabara's assignment down onto the table.

"And, um, I've noticed her a few times before," Kuwabara continued. "And, um, she's in my marketing class, and she doesn't even see me there, but when I'm with you, she always looks over, so I think maybe she's into you."

"Well, that's nothing to worry yourself over," Kurama assured him.

"No, Kurama, it's not normal."

"Kuwabara, please, it's fine, just forget about it–"

"Kurama, you don't understand! It's the worst possible thing that could happen – the biggest gossip and matchmaker wannabe we know is over there talking to that pretty girl who likes you!"

"Whuh?"

Kurama twisted around, curiosity overtaking common sense, and looked out across the lawn in the direction Kuwabara was so nervously glancing. There were few people in that direction, and the girl Kuwabara appeared to be referring to was standing facing away from them, wearing a hoodie with the hood pulled up over her head despite the summer heat. The girl would otherwise have been indistinguishable from anyone else out on the lawn, and, as she was turned away, Kurama would never have guessed that she was the girl Kuwabara was referring to: however, the reason she was turned away made her highly conspicuous.

She was facing a familiar, blue-haired girl, dressed in a shocking pink dress that was a little too revealing to be appropriate to wear on campus and was at least ten years out of style.

"You have to get over there quick, Kurama!" Kuwabara urged.

"Why?" Kurama asked, turning to look at his friend again.

"Because if you let Botan talk to that girl any longer, she'll tell her something really embarrassing about you, like how you like plants, or how you're really close to your mom, or that people often think you're a girl!"

Kurama gave a small frown.

"But Kuwabara..." he said quietly. "I do like plants, I do enjoy a very close relationship with my mother and people often do think that I'm a girl."

"But you don't want her to know that!" Kuwabara cried. "Botan knows everything about us, Kurama! She's always listening in and gossiping, and she always remembers everything about everyone – every little thing!"

Kurama smiled.

"You're worrying yourself over nothing, Kuwabara, I assure you," Kurama said to him gently. "Concern yourself with your assignment, not Botan, or that girl. I don't even know who that girl is: and there is no girl on this entire campus who I would find so interesting that I would forego completing one of my class assignments for her: that I can guarantee you."

Kuwabara pouted.

"I dunno, Kurama," he muttered. "She was really cute and it seemed like she was really into you – well, she was really into you, you know, before Botan came on the scene and started messing it all up for you..."

Kurama smiled and shook his head.

"Trust me Kuwabara, I don't care what those two are discussing."

* * *

Botan's senses were numbed – even her ears were deaf to the chirping birds and crackle of twigs beneath her feet as she walked – as her entire being was focused on finishing a note she was writing up in her notebook. She was not too concerned that Ryuhi had not picked her to join in the special Spirit World mission in Demon World, but after how irritated and clearly affronted Koenma had been following the selection ceremony, Botan felt that she ought to take note of everything that had been discussed anyway. She had started taking notes in Spirit World, but had run out of time when, after checking the task section of her notebook, she was reminded that she was due to travel to the living world to join the girls for a weekend getaway at Genkai's temple. And so she had changed into the first outfit she laid her hands on and raced through the portal between worlds, taking herself to the university Kuwabara and Kurama attended – because someone had to address the issue of Kuwabara interrupting the girls' weekend, as he was highly likely to do, to check up on Yukina and to (unintentionally) infuriate his big sister Shizuru – and there Botan took a moment to finish her notes.

"Ow!" she yelped, stumbling back and inadvertently dropping her notebook and pen.

In her distracted state, Botan had walked underneath a particularly jagged set of fine tree branch-ends, her high ponytail becoming ensnared. She moaned in complaint and began the arduous task of picking about blindly at the back of her head to free herself. It quickly became apparent to her that she was really quite trapped, and so she removed the clasp holding her hair up. Her patience thinned and, after losing a few hairs and breaking a few more, she managed to free herself: though she was left with some barbs buried in the back of her hair. She did not really want to approach Kuwabara with her hair looking so messy from both her tugging at it and the remaining twiglets entangled at the back of her head, as she felt that she needed to look as authoritative as possible if she was going to admonish him and warn him not to bother the girls that weekend. He was so ungrateful: he would surely argue with her and tell her she was interfering and spying on him (as he, in turn, spied on the girls) but really, her warning was kindly meant. She knew, as well as he surely must, that an invasion would incur the wrath of Shizuru, which would leave Shizuru tense for the rest of the night, spoil the mood for the rest of the girls, and leave Kuwabara bruised and bloodied.

But, just as she was considering her apparent unappreciated altruism, Botan noticed that Kuwabara was sitting at a picnic table out on the lawns of the university campus, and he was eating lunch with Kurama. Kurama always carried a good comb and was an expert at removing stubborn plant matter from human hair – since that was basically how he spent a good deal of his own time after a battle and before he could return home to his human mother. She could ask Kurama for help to fix her hair and then she could confront Kuwabara in Kurama's presence, as the wise fox demon would surely back her up, making her task all the easier to complete.

And then she could enjoy a nice relaxing and peaceful weekend in the living world, surrounded by friends and in a lovely setting.

Botan took one step forwards before remembering that she had dropped her notebook in her struggle, and she turned her head to find it still lying on the ground at her side.

"Oopsy…" she muttered to herself. "Can't leave you lying around here like that – now that really would be a disaster."

Botan reached out a hand and began to crouch down to retrieve her book, only to snatch herself back upright at the sound of a girl's voice yelping urgently behind her.

"Uso!"

"Oh, bless you!"

Botan turned around with a smile, facing the girl standing behind her. For someone who had just sneezed, she looked unduly concerned and confused. In fact, she looked nervous and worried, almost as though she was somehow afraid of Botan. Botan reached out a hand towards her and made to move to place her hand on the girl's shoulder, but she stopped short at the words she heard next.

"Don't move. I know who you are. I know what you are."

Botan froze on the spot, her mind drawing a blank when she tried to think why she was being addressed in such a manner.

"I've been looking for you. I knew you'd come here – you always do, eventually. You can't even imagine what I've been through trying to find you, how long I've spent planning the moment when we would finally come face to face right here."

Botan allowed herself to blink before frowning ever so slightly at the hooded woman addressing her. Something about the look in her eyes warned Botan that her plans for the weekend may be about to change quite drastically.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** It appears that Botan has found Maya, a spiritually aware girl from Kurama's past, and both he and Maya have a lot of catching up to do, and so Botan does the decent thing and gets Kuwabara out of their way before heading off to join the girls for a weekend stay at Genkai's. **Chapter 2a – New Girl**

 **A/N:** There is an INSANE amount of foreshadowing in this chapter. This was chapter 1. The one and only. (That was some more foreshadowing, thrown in for free.)


	2. New Girl

**Chapter 2a – New Girl**

"Hey Kurama? Remember when you said you didn't care what Botan was telling that cute girl about you?"

Kurama looked up at Kuwabara again.

"Well I think you should care now because they're both on their way over here," Kuwabara told him.

Kurama smiled and appeared genuinely unconcerned. Kuwabara, on the other hand, was growing increasingly anxious by the second. This would not be the first time Botan had arrived on campus and got far too involved when she had learned that another student had a crush on Kurama. Botan looked especially wild that day too: her hair was loose and looked bigger than usual, as though she had slept in it, and her outfit was a little more revealing that one she would usually wear. Her eyes had a strange glint in them and the scheming smile her lips were set in was bordering on the sinister.

"Good afternoon boys!" she cheerfully greeted them as she finally reached their table.

"Hey Botan," Kuwabara grumbled.

"Good afternoon Botan," Kurama replied.

Kurama nodded politely at Botan before doing a distinct double-take at the girl next to her, his face contorting into a rare expression of genuine shock. Kuwabara, who had been slumping lower and lower on the bench, sat bolt upright, his interest suddenly sparked upon seeing Kurama's reaction to the girl in the hooded top.

"Hi Shuichi," the girl said, briefly raising one hand to give a small wave at Kurama. "I-I don't know if you remember me, but we used to–"

"Maya!" Kurama blurted out.

The girl smiled meekly.

"Yes," she said. "I can't believe you remember me too!"

"Of course I remember you," Kurama answered her. "Are you attending this university?"

Maya nodded.

"I had no idea..." Kurama said.

"It's so silly, I-I've seen you around so many times before, and I wanted to come over and say hello, I just..." Maya began. "I don't know, I just always felt... You were always so special – I mean unique – I mean, oh, um, I don't know what I mean!"

"Well, I always thought you were very special and unique too, Maya," Kurama said.

Kuwabara smirked involuntarily, glancing at Botan, who smiled and nodded back at him. Apparently, just for once, Botan's interfering and matchmaking ways had been for the good.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again," Maya continued. "Especially not after my mother moved me to that all girls' school."

"Well I can see the two of you have a lot of catching up to do," Botan said loudly, in her usual, unsubtle way she had when she was proud of the results of her interfering. "So why don't Kuwabara and I leave you two alone to talk?"

Kuwabara smiled, but his smile quickly vanished again when Botan grabbed handfuls of his shirt and – with a seriously surprising amount of brute physical strength – hauled him up out of his seat. She dragged him aside and Kurama indicated for Maya to take his place at the table opposite him.

"You two have fun now," Botan bid them before walking on, dragging Kuwabara along with her.

Kuwabara stumbled along for several steps, partly too amazed at Botan's strength to argue and partly too confused by what had just happened to argue: but as he noticed other people on campus turning their heads in varying states of amusement and bemusement to watch as he was hauled along by a big-haired girl in a skimpy dress, Kuwabara quickly snapped back to his senses and pulled himself free of Botan's hold. They both stopped abruptly and turned to each other.

"Gees Botan, have you been working out with my sis?" Kuwabara grumbled as he straightened out his ruffled shirt.

"Oh Kuwabara, don't be silly!" Botan replied with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Who was that girl anyway?" Kuwabara asked, looking back over his shoulder.

He just managed to make out that Kurama and Maya were still sitting together at the picnic table – which was much farther behind him than he had expected it to be, as Botan had apparently marched him away at an even brisker pace than he had realised – before the view was taken from him as Botan grabbed handfuls of his shirt and yanked him back around to face her.

"That was Maya," she explained, swiping her hands briefly over the parts of his shirt she had once more ruffled up to smooth them back out. "She's an old school friend. Don't you think it's sweet that they found each other again? Like a summer love story!"

Kuwabara rolled his eyes and groaned.

"It kinda seems like you were meddling again, Botan," he pointed out. "I guess I'm just glad you don't meddle in my life the way you do in everybody else's."

"I don't need to meddle in your life, Kuwabara," Botan sweetly replied. "You have your sister to do that for you."

Kuwabara felt that horrible cold sweat of dread wash over him – one far worse than the feeling he ever got from even the most powerful and malevolent of demon auras – and he began frantically looking around the campus.

"Did you bring Shizuru here too?" he asked, his voice rising an octave even as he spoke.

"No, no, it's just me" Botan replied. "Though I am going to a sleepover with the girls tonight at Genkai's–"

"You what?"

Kuwabara immediately forgot all about the threat of his dominant elder sister as Botan alluded to the one thing more prevalent in his mind than all else.

"You're going to a sleepover with Yukina?" he asked.

Botan smiled slyly.

"Maybe," she replied.

"Well you better not try anything like you did last time, Botan!" Kuwabara warned her. "No beer, no horror movies, no movies with pretty boy actors, no music by pretty boy bands, no staying up all night and don't go up to Genkai's place all alone, at least stay at my dad's place."

"Kuwabara!" Botan scolded him. "Do you really think your sister would approve of you telling us girls what to do like that?"

Kuwabara faltered at the threat of Shizuru, but regained his composure as a fleeting memory passed through his mind of Yukina, in her pyjamas, dancing on the lawns of Genkai's temple at the moonlight at 2:30 in the morning as Shizuru held Botan's hair so she could throw up behind the begonias and Keiko meticulously constructed the life-size cardboard cutouts of five ridiculously pretty young men in their underwear.

"I'm coming with you, Botan!" he said with a sense of finality. "And I don't care what Shizuru says or does about it. I'm not gonna let you corrupt my poor, sweet, innocent Yukina like that!"

"That's fine," Botan said.

"Yeah, I'm coming too and – wait, what?"

Kuwabara was genuinely taken aback at Botan's response: usually she was most insistent that he stay away during one the girls' get-togethers.

"Well if I do come along, I'm gonna make sure you all go to bed at a decent time, and drink nothing but cocoa, and stop watching TV right after "Cats Make You LOL" finishes at 9pm," Kuwabara warned her.

"Of course," Botan said, nodding her head. "And you will also, of course, let your sister test out her new nail varnishes on you."

"Huh?" Kuwabara grunted, flinching back involuntarily at the very thought of what Botan had just suggested.

"And Yukina can finally find out what you will look like as a blonde, when I bleach your hair."

Kuwabara shrank back from Botan: she looked suddenly distinctly sinister.

"O-okay fine! I won't come with you!" he conceded. "But at least let me take you to Keiko to get a change of clothes before you go meet up with Yukina. I don't want you hanging around my girlfriend dressed like that."

Botan gasped.

"Dressed like what?" she demanded.

"Like a... Um... Well, you know what!"

"No. I don't. Say it."

Kuwabara felt his face turn hot, but that only brought a strange smile to Botan's face.

"Kuwabara..." she said, her smile vanishing to be replaced by a look of genuine concern. "What would your sister think if she heard you talking to me like that? What would Yukina think? What would King Enma think if he knew you were disrespecting one of his ferry girls this way?"

"...King Enma...?" Kuwabara grunted.

Botan sighed and shook her head.

"You may escort me to Keiko," she said. "But you better not interfere with Kurama and Maya – leave them alone and let their love blossom naturally."

Kuwabara's face dropped.

"Were you letting things "blossom naturally" when you pounced on Maya and shoved her right into Kurama's face?" he grumbled.

"Oh, stop being such a grouch and take me to Keiko, Mister!" Botan snapped impatiently.

"Okay fine," Kuwabara relinquished. "But I'm telling Urameshi."

Botan sighed and shook her head, but followed Kuwabara regardless as he set off in the direction of the girls' dormitory.

* * *

Kuwabara remained hunched over his communication mirror, held so close to his face that he was crossing his eyes in order to focus on Yusuke's face in the centre of the small screen, anxiously awaiting his old friend's response.

"You called me for what?" Yusuke eventually responded.

"Botan and my sister are taking Yukina and Keiko up to Genkai's old place this weekend," Kuwabara repeated. "For the whole weekend! Just the four of them!"

"Pfft, so?" Yusuke asked, rubbing a finger at the underside of his nose and shrugging.

"So you remember what happened last time, right?" Kuwabara replied.

"No, do you?" Yusuke flatly replied. "Who cares, Kuwabara? We have boys' weekends where we all hang out at your place. If it's just the girls, it's not like some handsome, smooth-talking son of a bitch is gonna show up and sweep Yukina off her feet. What are so worried about?"

"Honestly? I don't think Shizuru and Botan are good influences of Yukina and Keiko."

"Keiko is a stubborn, independent woman, she isn't gonna do anything she doesn't want to. And Yukina is a demon, she lived in Demon World, she's not stupid. And you should give Botan and your sister more credit: their not dumb either. Let it go, man."

"You don't care that they're going up there on their own, at a time like this?"

"A time like what?"

"Well, with everything going in Spirit World! What if what they're doing opens up another gateway from Demon World to the human world? It isn't safe for the girls to be somewhere like that all on their own!"

Kuwabara waited for Yusuke to answer, but he remained silent, and oddly still, almost as though the communication mirror had frozen.

"Urameshi?" he said tentatively. "Hey, uh, are you still there?"

"What's going on in Spirit World right now, Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked.

"Y'know, all that stuff about how their expanding their borders with Demon World," Kuwabara casually replied. "Koenma told us about it last week, remember?"

"No," Yusuke flatly replied.

"Oh, well, he told me and Kurama about it," Kuwabara replied. "And he must have told Hiei, because he said the Border Patrol were aware of it, and they were putting on double-shifts to catch any stray demons passing between the worlds. I just assumed he told you too–"

Kuwabara stopped when the mirror before him went dark. He tapped at the screen with one finger.

"Urameshi?" he asked.

When the screen remained blacked out and he received no audio reply, he shrugged and then did the only other logical thing he could think of: he called Hiei. After a prolonged wait, Hiei's face finally appeared on the screen, slightly squished, his eyes squinty and his hair a little softer than usual.

"You better have a damn good reason for calling me, fool," Hiei growled at him.

Kuwabara looked about the screen before him before screwing up his face.

"Hiei, are you sleeping in a tree?" he asked.

"Correction, idiot," Hiei flatly replied. "I was sleeping in a tree. Until a shrill shattering awoke me. And now I'm looking at your ugly face. What do you want with me?"

"Why are you sleeping in a tree, Hiei?" Kuwabara asked. "I mean, don't you live in a palace now, with that lady Mukuro, who was one of the Kings of Demon World? Aren't you rich now? Why do you still need to sleep in trees? What is wrong with you? Why are you so weird?"

"If you merely called to debate the vast chasm between your simplistic human life and my demon existence, then I will end this call," Hiei warned. "Get to the point, Kuwabara."

"Oh, right, okay. Well, you know how Spirit World are moving their borders in Demon World right now?"

"Not my preferred topic of conversation, you already know my opinion of Spirit World. I'm not any more pleased about this, and if Koenma has set you about this task, he is wasting his time, mine, and yours. I will not change my mind. I will not assist the Border Patrol during this time. I will not return to duty until it is all over. I cannot stop it, but not will I aid Spirit World in taking control of my home world."

"That's not why I called, buddy!" Kuwabara hurriedly said as it appeared that Hiei was about to terminate the call. "I called to tell you something about the girls being in danger!"

"What?"

Hiei suddenly looked wide-awake. Even his hair had stiffened back out into its usual, rigid spiky style, his eyes once more large, glaring, accusing and bright.

"Yeah!" Kuwabara said, nodding frantically. "Botan just told me the four girls are going up to Genkai's place this weekend. All alone!"

"I see..." Hiei said, his eyes moving to one side.

Kurama had once taught Kuwabara that which direction Hiei looked away to indicated how he really felt: a look to the right meant he was irritated by what he was hearing, but a look to the left meant he was curious and contemplating being helpful. And, right then, he was looking to the left, so Kuwaraba quickly capitalised on his temporary advantage.

"Yuh-huh," he said. "I don't want Keiko – and I especially don't want Yukina – being put at risk like that!"

Hiei's eyes moved back to stare directly at Kuwabara at the mention of Yukina's name.

"Well, I have little better to do in this current state of madness," he said. "Where is Yukina right now?"

"She's still at my place," Kuwabara replied. "They haven't left yet. I just left Botan with Keiko, they're going there tonight."

"Meet me at the temple gate in one hour," Hiei replied.

"One hour?" Kuwabara echoed.

"You said they are safe at present. I see no need to hasten there just yet."

"But I've got classes this afternoon!"

"Then I will go alone. Join me when you can."

"Um, okay, I guess... But maybe we should–"

Kuwabara sighed as he was, for the second time that day, hung up on mid-sentence.

"Damn demons.." he grumbled as he stowed his communication mirror back in his pocket.

But, he told himself, Hiei would do as he had promised, and be there ahead of the girls to scout out any trouble and to protect them when they arrived. He would join them all as soon as he could, and in the mean time, just trust that Hiei would take care of things.

* * *

"Well, this is as far as I can get," Keiko said as she pulled on the parking brake.

"Really?" Botan asked, looking about the forest around them.

"Yeah, sorry," Keiko replied. "This car isn't as good on the rough track as Mister Kuwabara's truck. But if we start walking on ahead, Shizuru and Yukina should catch up to us. Shizuru will be in the truck, she can take us as far as the steps."

"Oh, alrighty then!" Botan cheerfully replied.

They exited the car and Keiko swung her loaded backpack over her shoulders and moved to the front of the car, where Botan joined her. Keiko paused, taking a moment to eye Botan over. The ditzy ferry girl never seemed to prepare correctly for anything, despite always planning for things. She was dressed a little more appropriately than she had been when Keiko had first greeted her at her dorm room door – Keiko had been sure to give her a change of clothes as a first priority – but she had nothing else with her except her notebook and a handful of feathers and dried leaves she had been inexplicably carrying with her since her arrival in the living world that day.

"So, Botan," Keiko began as they started along the dirt track through the forest together. "What's this girl Maya like? I mean, she must really be something if Kurama got so flustered over her, right?"

"I know, isn't it just dreamy?" Botan asked, clasping her hands by one side of her face.

"I guess..." Keiko slowly replied. "I just can't imagine Kurama losing his cool over a regular human girl."

"Why Keiko..."

Keiko turned her head to look directly at Botan's feline face.

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy...?" Botan asked slyly.

"No!" Keiko yelped. "Absolutely not! I'm just curious, is all! I've been on campus with Kurama for almost two years, and I've watched some incredibly beautiful, fit, intelligent, funny, charming girls try their luck, and none of them so much as turned his head. Not even once. And now you're telling me some bat-faced little ginger girl has him in a tizzy?"

Botan gasped.

"Keiko, that is so mean!" she wailed.

"No, it's true," Keiko sternly replied. "Look, I was lying earlier when you and Kuwabara were telling me about Maya. I do know who she is. She's in my calculus class. She gets the lowest marks out of everyone – which is weird, because she's been to some good schools. She doesn't speak to anyone, she eats her lunch on her own, and one of the other girls said she often speaks to herself. She's weird, Botan. And Kurama is smart. I don't understand why he would be interested in her. Aren't you even a little bit suspicious yourself?"

"Why would I be?" Botan asked. "Maya is such a sweet, lovely girl! She's shy! Have you even tried talking to her yourself? I have, and she was an absolute delight! And she can see me – even as a Ferry Girl. She approached me. She had seen me collecting souls before. She understands everything that Kurama is. Don't you think he deserves to have a girl like that in his life?"

"He already has girls like that in his life: he has us."

"Well, I didn't mean girls who can be his friends, I meant one special girl who can be a bit more than just his friend. Don't you think he might some exclusive like female companionship?"

"He has his mother."

"Not like that! I meant romantic, exclusive, female companionship."

"Hm, I'm not convinced, Botan. I don't like that Maya girl. Shizuru will agree with me, you wait and see."

They continued on a little longer before Keiko noticed that Botan was skipping along with her hands clasped behind her back and a smirk on her face.

"I am not jealous, Botan!" Keiko snapped.

Botan giggled into her hand, but before Keiko could argue any further with her, both girls stopped walking and stepped to either side of the path as Shizuru pulled up alongside them. Keiko climbed into the back, sitting down alongside Yukina, who always preferred to sit in the back as she was too short to comfortably wear the seatbelt in the front passenger seat. Botan took her place up front alongside Shizuru, who paused long enough to flick stray ash from the end of her cigarette out the window before driving on.

"Ladies," Shizuru greeted them.

"Hello Keiko, Botan," Yukina said, bowing her head to each in turn with a sweet smile.

"Hello girls!" Botan cheerfully replied.

"Well apparently Kurama is love with some girl," Keiko flatly announced.

The truck slowed slightly, and even the usually moderately expressive Yukina looked shocked.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Botan cooed.

"It's strange," Keiko insisted. "Don't you think it's strange? Shizuru?"

"Uh..." Shizuru caught Keiko's eye in the rearview mirror. "Well, why not? I mean, he is human as long as he's in that body, right?"

"Kurama has never just suddenly fallen in love with anyone," Keiko argued. "I don't believe he's just dropped everything for this girl. No way."

"Are you jealous?"

Keiko rounded on Yukina so fast, the diminutive ice maiden shrank in her seat fearfully.

"We're all fools when we fall in love," Botan said. "Even the coolest of us. That's what love does: it changes us. It makes us do crazy things."

"I'd agree with that," Shizuru said, shifting up a gear and picking up speed.

"Yes, absolutely," Yukina said, holding up both hands and smiling awkwardly at Keiko.

"Case in point, Keiko," Shizuru added. "Look at my baby bro. I mean, granted, he can be an idiot over many things, but nothing makes him quite so embarrassingly ridiculous as his love for Yukina, right?"

"I strongly disagree," Keiko growled, sitting back hard in her seat. "Yusuke doesn't act that way around me. I can't imagine Kurama would change for a girl."

"Oh dear, is that what this is really all about?" Botan asked, peering over the back of her seat at Keiko. "You think Yusuke's love for you is not as deep as Kurama's love for Maya?"

Keiko felt her face grow hot, but her temper flared, and logic left her.

"I've known Yusuke my entire life!" she roared. "What we have is real! Kurama just met this girl! You can't compare the two!"

"They've met before, remember?" Botan reminded her.

"Oh yeah?" Shizuru asked.

"Yes, isn't it adorable?" Botan replied, clasping her hands together.

"It's ridiculous," Keiko said, folding her arms stuffily. "And besides, it doesn't work. Look at me and Yusuke. You can't have anything real with someone when they live in a different world and... Just are a different being. Things between me and Yusuke... Just aren't the same. Things work between Kuwabara and Yukina because they both live in the same world. It's possible – not practical – to have a relationship with someone from another world. Kurama can't be with Maya. She'll die long before he will, or else he'll have to return to Demon World, and she won't be able to go with him. What then?"

"Love finds a way, Keiko," Botan said with determination.

"No Botan," Keiko bitterly replied. "It doesn't."

"Are you and Yusuke fighting, sweetheart?" Shizuru asked, locking eyes with Keiko in the rearview mirror again.

"Love lives across the worlds – it lives between the worlds," Botan preached.

"To be fair Botan, although I think Keiko is being a bit harsh to say it's impossible for a love like that to work, it is highly improbable," Shizuru said to her.

"Well maybe it doesn't always work for Keiko and Yusuke, but it's always worked for Hiei and me."

The truck stopped so abruptly that even with their seatbelts on, Keiko and Yukina almost slammed into the two seats in front of them. Shizuru hissed out a curse as the cigarette she had inadvertently spat out burned her leg. She grabbed it up and threw it out the window before rounding on Botan.

"What?" Botan asked with an innocent shrug. "We live in different worlds, sometimes we don't see each other for a long time due to the commitments of our lives in our own, respective, worlds, but our relationship works just fine, and it has done for several years now."

Shizuru looked back at Keiko, throwing them a look that was as confused and alarmed as Keiko felt.

"Botan, you're dating Hiei?" Keiko asked.

Botan looked back at her.

"Of course I am!" Botan replied. "You didn't know already?"

Keiko looked over at Yukina, who was paler than usual, her large eyes larger than usual.

"I don't think any of us knew that, Botan," Keiko concluded as she turned her attention back to Botan.

Botan shrugged.

"Well, you know now," she said. "Oh, but you know how Hiei is. He doesn't like to admit that he has a soft side, so he doesn't talk about it much with other people."

"Well damn," Shizuru muttered as she shifted back into gear and got the truck moving again. "Looks like we got a lot of catching up to do this weekend, ladies!"

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Hiei is onsite to greet the girls as they arrive, though his meeting with Botan doesn't go quite as he expected it to. Kuwabara eventually joins the mix too, much to Shizuru's chagrin, but her thoughts are soon drawn elsewhere when something odd seems to be taking place outside the temple. **Chapter 3a – Ladies' Night**


	3. Ladies' Night

**Chapter 3a – Ladies' Night**

Hiei awoke at the distinct and familiar sense that his sister was drawing near. He readjusted his position on the tree branch before adjusting his shirt and scarf, both of which had become a little askew during his nap. Peering down through the trees he shortly located all four girls clambering through the undergrowth and over rocks towards the temple steps. Yukina was amongst them, looking even more human than the last time Hiei had seen her: it seemed like the longer she spent in the human world, the more she acclimatised, which, he supposed, was good for her own sake, though the thought of it did always make him feel relieved that he had returned to Demon World, as the same thing may have ended up happening to him had he not. Yukina, like Kuwabara's sister and the ferry girl, looked ill-prepared for a weekend in what was basically the wilderness. Yusuke's bossy woman had at least arrived dressed in appropriate footwear for the hike, and toting a fully packed backpack: though knowing her, the bag was probably full of books, and her choice of footwear was probably just a happy coincidence.

Hiei shirked back into the shadows as they began the climb up the steps: three of the four of them would sense his presence lest he made an effort to suppress his energy and hide himself from sight. As they drew closer, he could make out their conversation.

"I'm just saying..." Keiko gasped, the journey apparently taking its toll on her. "I don't feel it."

"I think you're making... Too much out of it..." Shizuru replied, equally as breathless.

"I hope they are very happy together," Yukina said, her voice only betraying the faintest hint of strain, her breath only slightly hitched.

"And I think it's wonderful!" Botan chirped, entirely unaffected by the journey.

Hiei frowned. That seemed odd. Usually Botan could only have that much excess energy when she was indulging in one of her most nauseating hobbies, like spying on people, or meddling in other people's would-be love affairs.

"I think Kurama and Maya make a lovely couple!"

Hiei groaned. Apparently her excess energy was the direct result of her indulging in both of her sickening delights simultaneously.

"Nothing you say... Can change my... Mind on this," Keiko replied.

"Maybe when we... See them together... It'll be different," Shizuru offered.

"Perhaps we ought to have invited Maya to join us this weekend?" Yukina proposed.

"We don't even... Know who she is..." Keiko quickly argued. "And we don't even... Know if her and Kura... Her and Kurama are even... A real thing or not."

"If you see them together..." Shizuru said. "And they're really happy... Really, genuinely happy... Will you accept it then?"

"If I see them together..." Keiko replied. "And if they genuinely are happy... Then yes, of course... I will accept it."

"I still think you seem sort of jealous, Keiko," Botan speculated. "I'm just not sure why... Do you have feelings for Kurama yourself?"

"No!" Keiko replied. "But he's never even looked at another girl! Not even..."

"Not even you?" Botan pressed.

"Botan..." Keiko growled.

"Maybe we should talk about something else for now," Yukina diplomatically suggested.

"Yes, let's!" Botan said cheerfully as she reached the top of the steps, a good way ahead of the others.

"Hey Botan, why don't we... Go on ahead inside..." Shizuru said, hauling herself up to finally join Botan at the temple gate. "Since apparently we have a visitor... A visitor maybe you want to... Meet with..."

Botan frowned but nodded. Hiei crouched lower into the shadows as the worrying thought occurred to him that maybe all his efforts had been in vain or that maybe he had not been concentrating hard enough, distracted by the nonsense conversation floating up to his ears, as apparently Shizuru had sensed his presence.

"Is everything alright?" Yukina asked Shizuru as she reached the top step.

"Sure," Shizuru replied, reaching out a hand and helping Keiko up the last step. "Let's go inside."

Yukina blindly obeyed Shizuru's words, and, along with Keiko, headed on across the lawn towards the temple. Botan remained where she was, by the gate, watching them go. As they reached the porch, Botan summoned her baseball bat, twirling it around one hand in a strangely sinister manner before turning her head and looking directly up at him.

"Show yourself," she said in a suddenly very flat voice.

Hiei growled in annoyance – where was Kuwabara? The idiot who had put him in this predicament in the first place was nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that his classes had surely ended hours earlier. Not wishing to once more find himself in the situation where Botan flew at him on her oar when he was so high off the ground, Hiei deftly leapt to the ground, landing directly in front of her. She smiled at the sight of him, touching her free hand to her chest before sighing in a silly, exaggerated fashion and banishing her weapon of choice.

"Oh, you!" she gushed. "You startled me! What were you doing, hiding in the shadows like that, spying on us girls?"

She stepped closer to him with a look he had never seen on her face before.

"My, aren't you hot in that bulky cloak of yours?"

Hiei frowned.

"No," he flatly replied.

"It's such a warm night," she said, fanning herself with one hand. "Seems like you would be too hot and stuffy in a big cloak like that."

"Listen woman, I expected that you at least would know that coming to a place like this, at a time like this, was a stupid idea," Hiei sternly replied.

"And why is that?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Because your world is invading mine right now, that's why!" Hiei snapped back.

"Oh, well, that is troublesome."

"Troublesome? That hardly covers it. Let me tell you something that is "troublesome" though: a ferry girl, two humans and Yukina, here, unguarded and unprepared, at a time like this."

"But we're not unguarded. We have you to protect us."

Hiei was ready to argue with Botan further on how ludicrous she was to have encouraged and collaborated with the other girls to create the situation they were now in, but his voice died in his throat when she put her hands on his chest, just below his scarf.

"You feel hot to me," she whispered.

"What are you doing?" he growled back in a low voice, all the while wondering when and how she had managed to slide herself close enough to him to make direct contact with him.

"We're all alone out here, you know," she whispered back.

"Yes, and that's just as well, because had there been anyone – or anything – else loitering here, I would have to kill it before it reached Yukina."

"Are you sure you're not too hot?"

"Yes!"

"Then why is your face turning red?"

Hiei froze. His face did feel hot, and had done so since she had started behaving so strangely, and that heat had intensified significantly since she had put her hands on him: though he doubted that his face was turning red, as he could feel just about all of his blood rushing to an entirely different part of his body right then.

"I don't know what you think you're doing," he said, stepping back out of her reach and ripping off his cloak, throwing it down on the ground between them.

He had hoped that the violence of his action would snap her back to her senses, but rather it only seemed to worsen her behaviour, as she let her eyes roam appreciatively over his body.

"Stop that!" he warned her.

"Well, I see why you wear such a big cloak," she said, putting far too much emphasis on the word "big" for Hiei's liking.

"Are you flirting with me, woman?"

He saw no point in not coming directly to the point. Botan smiled coyly back at him and slid off the cardigan she had been wearing, letting it fall to the ground behind her.

"Put that back on!" he ordered her, pointing accusingly at her abandoned garment.

"How about we play a little game?" she replied. "Every time you remove a piece of your clothing, I'll remove a piece of mine."

Hiei flinched.

"Are you out of your mind?" he hissed.

"It seems unfair if you don't keep up with me," she said as she kicked off her shoes.

"So then stop what you're doing!" Hiei yelled.

"Oh, why must you pretend that you aren't enjoying this?"

Hiei quivered at the sound of Botan lowering the zip at the back of her dress. He could feel himself losing control, much like how he did when his anger overtook him, and he could feel himself starting towards her, driven by an urge that was both highly illogical and intensely animal.

"Whoa, what the heck are you guys doing?"

"Kuwabara," Hiei said through a relieved sigh.

"Kuwabara, you came!" Botan greeted him, subtly zipping her dress back up and stepping back into her shoes.

"Yeah..." Kuwabara replied, glancing back and forth between Hiei and Botan. "I asked Hiei to come here, just, you know, to keep guard until I could get here."

"Hiei," Botan said, turning to look at Hiei with that same odd look again.

Hiei lurched slightly and had to physically shake himself to make his mind focus.

"Good, Kuwabara, take care of things here, I have to go," he said.

"So soon?" Botan asked.

Hiei threw her one last look before again shaking himself off and fleeing. He lost none of his momentum until he was all the way back to the tree he had been camping in since hearing of Spirit World's advance on Demon World: and, despite the journey not having been an especially long one, he found himself breathless. And still aroused.

* * *

"What... Are you... Doing... Here?"

Shizuru slowly and purposefully crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes accusingly at her hapless younger brother, inexplicably standing before her, one hand moving about in front of him as though literally searching for a response as the other hand rubbed nervously at the back of his head.

"I know we meant for this weekend to only be a time for us girls, but I don't mind if Kazuma stays," Yukina tried. "I haven't seen him in a little while, I would enjoy spending some time with him."

"Is that your subtle way of saying you'll keep him out of our way?" Keiko asked her.

"Kuwabara wanted to come here tonight, girls," Botan said. "He offered to let Shizuru paint his fingernails, didn't you Kuwabara?"

"Huh?" Kuwabara grunted, flushing red and leaning away from Botan.

Shizuru narrowed her eyes further and gripped her fingers into her biceps: but her suspicion was no longer directed at her brother. Something was amiss with Botan, and Keiko seemed unusually uptight. Shizuru lessened her grip and relaxed her eyes a little as she inwardly conceded to herself that Keiko was almost always uptight, but that evening she just seemed especially tense.

"You can stay tonight, but you leave at dawn, got it Kazuma?" she concluded.

"Oh hey Yukina, this is great, right?" her brother immediately said to his paramour. "We get to spend the night together – I mean not literally together, I'm not that sort of guy – I just meant I can kiss you on the forehead and say good night and then in the morning you can make me breakfast."

"Oh my, so easily pleased!" Botan commented.

"At least their relationship is realistic," Keiko grumbled.

Shizuru narrowed her eyes again, this time in Keiko's direction. She had also noticed that, since her brother's arrival, Hiei had made a very hasty exit: perhaps Botan had asked him to leave, but that seemed suspicious too when the ferry girl was so openly inviting Kuwabara to stay.

"It's been a long day, let's get into our pyjamas and set up our sleeping bags," Keiko suggested.

The others nodded and started off to do exactly that: except Shizuru, who marched up to her brother and grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to walk back several steps as Yukina moved away from him.

"Hey, what gives, Shizuru?" he complained.

"Easy there, big guy," Shizuru replied. "You're sleeping outside."

"What?" he yelped.

"Did you honestly think we would let you sleep in here with us?" she snapped back at him.

"But Shizuru!"

"It's a nice night, you shouldn't be here, and the interior of this building is ladies only, all weekend."

"But why?"

"I sleep naked."

Kuwabara recoiled in horror and Shizuru smirked to herself: he was so straight-thinking and easily manipulated.

"You can stay in here for one cup of cocoa, after that, you're out," she offered.

"Okay..." he moaned.

"Good," she said, releasing him with a slap to one shoulder. "Now light the stove and make a pan of cocoa for five."

His face twisted, but one more stern look from Shizuru had him fleeing for the kitchen, and so Shizuru moved into a room off the main hallway to change, finding Keiko, already in her pyjamas, and angrily wiping off her face with a cleansing wipe.

"Everything okay, sweetheart?" she asked.

"Fine," Keiko grumbled.

Shizuru set down her bag and began to get changed, all the while carefully watching Keiko, who had finishing rubbing her face – leaving her skin a little red from the sheer force she had been using – and begun angrily clawing at her hair.

"I'm not jealous, Shizuru!" she suddenly blurted out. "I'm not! I just don't understand. That night, he walked me to my room – walked me to my actual bed – and he walked away. And when I spoke to him about it the next day, he just brushed it off, and he genuinely didn't care!"

Shizuru nodded slowly.

"So I don't get why he's suddenly interested in some weird girl who talks to herself and isn't even that pretty!" Keiko added.

Shizuru finished changing and moved over to Keiko, gently taking her wrists and easing her hands away from her hair.

"I guess it's been a long time since Yusuke came to see you, huh?" she asked as she picked up a hairbrush and began brushing Keiko's hair out for her.

Keiko sighed and squared her shoulders but said nothing.

"You're feeling unappreciated, right?" Shizuru asked.

"That's not what the problem is," Botan said, poking her head into the room.

"Just forget it," Keiko muttered.

"Keiko was talking about the time she got a little tipsy at a party, and Kurama had to help her back to her room," Botan said as she slipped into the room uninvited. "She flirted with him and he didn't respond."

"You're making it sound like I think Kurama should prefer me to Maya," Keiko moodily pointed out.

"Well, maybe that is what you think..." Botan replied.

"That's not it!" Keiko snapped.

"Are you sure?" Botan asked. "Because I think that maybe Kurama was the first boy to ever turn you down..."

Keiko turned to glare at Botan in a way that made even Shizuru nervous.

"I told you that in confidence, Botan!" she spat. "Just forget it!"

She pulled her hair free of the brush and stormed out of the room, Botan barely managing to get out of her path in time.

"Oh dear, she really isn't taking this so well," Botan said, turning to Shizuru. "Do you think she actually has feelings for Kurama?"

Shizuru took a moment to eye Botan over – as she was not wearing her usual pyjamas, rather she was simply wearing a Megallica T-shirt that had clearly been taken from the drawer of clothing Kuwabara kept at the temple – before shaking her head.

"I don't think that's it," she concluded. "Or at least, I hope that's not it. What sort of girl is this Maya, anyway?"

"Oh she is just an absolute lamb!" Botan replied with a cheerful smile. "I'm sure she and Keiko would become fast friends if Keiko would just give the poor girl half a chance!"

"Okay, well, for now, maybe we shouldn't talk about it around Keiko," Shizuru concluded. "We can make up our minds when we meet Maya. How bad can she actually be?"

"Oh she's really not bad at all, Shizuru!"

Shizuru left the room again, with Botan skipping after her. They regrouped back in the living room, where they all sat on the floor in a circle as Kuwabara began handing out the lukewarm, lumpy batch of cocoa he had hurriedly made. Shizuru, more concerned with Keiko's ire and Botan's eccentricity than her brother's unwelcome presence, prepared herself to tease him about his pitiful attempt at making such a basic drink: but she stopped short, both in her attempt to take a sip of her drink and mid-thought as she felt the sudden arrival of something sinister. It was not a strong or concerning aura, but it was clearly demon, and it was close, and moving in closer very rapidly.

Shizuru sharply turned her head to a nearby window, and although she saw nothing, she was certain something had been there.

"What was that?" Kuwabara muttered, apparently having felt the same thing his sister had.

"Nothing good, that's for sure," Shizuru answered him. "Go outside and check it out."

"I'll go!"

Shizuru slowly lowered her mug as Botan eagerly shot to her feet.

"I can fly up high and see all around if there is anything out there," the ferry girl added, summoning her oar to indicate her point.

"Go with her, Kazuma," Shizuru told her brother.

"That won't be necessary," Botan assured him.

"What is it?" Keiko asked. "What's going on?"

"There's something outside," Yukina replied.

"What?" Keiko yelped.

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it!" Botan called back over her shoulder as she sprinted out the room.

Shizuru waited until she heard Botan exit the building before turning to her brother, who had just sat down, positioning himself ridiculously close to Yukina.

"If she's not back in ten minutes, you're going out there to look for her," she warned him.

He started to complain but one stern look silenced him and Yukina's hand on his arm shortly eased the frown from his brow. He quickly lightened up as he cooed over Yukina, but Shizuru remained tense: something very strange was going on and she had a very bad feeling about where it might all be leading.

* * *

There had really been no point in remaining in Demon World, Hiei told himself as he raced up the temple steps. After all, there was nothing productive for him to do there. Returning to the living world made more sense. There was a situation going on in the other two worlds that he was advocating being a part of, and the best way to distance himself from it, was to remove himself from either of those two worlds. Also, he really disliked the idea of Kuwabara spending the night with the girls – who would surely get intoxicated, leaving Yukina alone and vulnerable with that oaf – that was just unacceptable.

As he crossed the temple lawn, Hiei felt a little twinge – a small blip at the very edges of his senses – that something which did not belong was present in the temple. It was like there was a small, very weak demon present. Like an imp, or an infant ogre. Hiei sneered and moved towards the source of the aura, but, as he started his ascent to the temple roof, the minor blip began to suddenly move very rapidly away, moving fast enough and emitting an aura feeble enough that by the time Hiei was on the roof, it had long gone.

"Well hello again, Hiei."

Hiei paused.

"I thought you had to go back to Demon World?"

The ferry girl was standing on the roof, alone, dressed in nothing but one of Kuwabara's ugly old T-shirts. A slight, light, wind swept past them and he was very briefly afforded a view of what was under the lower part of that T-shirt: and the sight of Botan's underwear was enough to snap him back to his senses.

"Shouldn't you be running errands for Koenma at a time like this?" he asked as he began awkwardly removing his cloak.

Botan gave him a curious look before shaking her head.

"You're lucky he even let you have time off your duties when Spirit World are so busy causing problems for Demon World again," Hiei continued, gathering his cloak up in each hand.

"But Hiei, you're a Border Patrol officer," she replied. "I'm surprised Mukuro let you abandon your duties at a time like this."

Hiei hesitated, but only until another rush of wind passing over them both, at which point he quickly reached up over Botan's head and pulled sharply downwards, covering her in his cloak.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"There was something out here," he stiffly replied. "You shouldn't go chasing after demons dressed in that… Thing."

Botan frowned and tilted her head, and another gust of wind reminded Hiei that she was taller than him, and his cloak was not as long on her as it was on him and that fact, combined with how loose it was, entirely negated the effect he had been going for when he had put it on her. He angrily tore off his scarf and swiftly tied it around her waist, ignoring the little squeaking sound she made when he tied it tightly in place.

"Are you alright, Hiei?" she asked him, loosening the knot a little as he stepped back from her.

"You're the one who's acting inappropriately!" he defensively snapped.

"I don't know what you mean, Hiei," she said.

Hiei gave her a hard glare, but she did not falter. Her demeanour did seem changed from earlier, but he could not tell why.

"What was it?" he asked, deciding to change the subject, as he had a vague suspicion that she was trying to force him into saying out loud what he thought had happened between them earlier that night.

"What was what?" she asked.

"The demon," he replied. "That was up here. What was it?"

Botan smiled and waved a hand at him.

"Well that was you, silly!" she said. "You're the demon that's up here!"

Hiei quickly forgot any awkwardness as anger overtook anxiety.

"There was something else up here with you when I arrived!" he said. "What was it and where did it go?"

"Oh, that! It was just some pesky little demon insect," Botan dismissively replied. "I tried to swat it, but it got away from me. It's nothing to worry about though."

Hiei was not entirely convinced: whatever it was he had felt had more of a physical presence than just a regular insect of Demon World, and it had moved far faster than any insect could: but the signal had completely gone, and it had been ridiculously weak, and so he decided to let it go.

"Well then get back inside," he said grumpily.

"Are you coming inside?"

Hiei paused long enough to convince himself that her question had not been a sly double entendre, and then a little longer to be thankful that Yusuke had not been there to capitalise upon it, before shaking his head.

"I'll stay out here," he said, sitting down on the roof. "Just in case that troublesome "insect" should return…"

He threw Botan a vaguely accusing glower, but she returned his look with a cheerful smile.

"Well alrighty then," she said. "Here, I'll give you your clothes back."

She loosened the scarf at her waist and then began lifting the cloak up, unintentionally lifting the T-shirt with it – or at least, Hiei hoped it was an unintentional action – and he quickly leapt to his feet and launched himself towards her, yanking the cloak back down. They both stopped, him standing before her, knees slightly bent, fists clenched tightly around the hem of the cloak, holding it down, and her stood upright, looking down at him with large, curious eyes, her hands still loosely holding the sides of the cloak.

"What is wrong with you two tonight?"

Hiei leapt away from Botan, turning his head away to mouth out a curse at himself for failing to notice Kuwabara's approach.

"Kuwabara!" Botan greeted him. "What are you doing out here? I told you I would take care of the problem!"

Hiei turned to her sharply and she laughed nervously.

"Not that it was a problem, of course!" she hurriedly added. "It was nothing, really! Just a silly little bug!"

"Well Shizuru says you have to get back inside," Kuwabara said to her. "And Shizuru also says you and me gotta sleep out here, Hiei."

"I'll be in the usual place, you do as you please," Hiei replied.

Botan called after him that he should take his cloak and scarf back, but he ignored her and continued away, back across the lawn to the tallest tree by the temple gate, scaling it to the highest branch he could comfortably make a bed on. He settled there, but knew that sleep would allude him that night: between the problems in Demon World, Botan's confusing behaviour and the inexplicable presence of something that Botan was clearly lying about, he had far too many things on his mind to even contemplate sleep.

* * *

 **Next chapter:** The weekend continues and what should have been a fun break turns into an increasingly tense time for all when Keiko remains cagey about Maya, Kuwabara refuses to leave Yukina, Hiei lingers and considers Botan's odd behaviour and Shizuru grows increasingly convinced that there is something more than just a demon insect hiding in the shadows. **Chapter 4a – Behind the Mask**


	4. Behind the Mask

**Chapter 4a: Behind the Mask**

Keiko was tired of being kept in the dark about everything. Shizuru and Yukina had even started making and serving breakfast that morning without telling her. Although Yusuke was the worst for hiding things from her, all of them were guilty of it, as though they all thought she was some sort of delicate, wilting wallflower. It was infuriating. As she sat down around the blanket Yukina was still lying out plates of food onto, Keiko decided to take the opportunity to address something else she had been kept in the dark about – and for a long time too – that she felt she ought to have been told or at least managed to have figured out by herself.

"So Botan," she said, looking across the blanket at the ferry girl, who had, oddly, changed into a set of pyjamas since going to bed the night before in Kuwabara's old T-shirt. "When exactly did you and Hiei start dating?"

Kuwabara – who had apparently been allowed inside that morning to join them for breakfast – paused, mid-chew, and moved wide eyes to Botan.

"It's sort of been our little secret," Botan answered.

"You weren't exactly being secretive about it yesterday," Keiko pointed out. "When you blurted it out suddenly out of nowhere."

Botan touched her palms to her cheeks and looked mildly panicked.

"Sometimes I just get so carried away with my feelings, I forget where I am!" she wailed. "Sometimes it's really difficult for me to keep a secret!"

"No kidding," Kuwabara muttered.

"Yeah," Shizuru quietly agreed.

"Okay," Keiko said, inwardly agreeing that Botan had been known to sometimes blurt out sensitive information in the past, and so her indiscretion this time was perhaps not so unusual. "So when and how did it start?"

"It's quite an interesting story, actually," Botan began.

"Well can you please wait until I've finished my breakfast before you tell it, Botan?" Kuwabara asked in a low voice. "I don't wanna know the details."

"Well some of us do," Keiko said to him, throwing him a warning look.

"I don't," he flatly replied, apparently immune to the malice in her glare. "There are some things people should just keep to themselves, and this is one of them."

"Kazuma, are you advocating that people shouldn't go on about their romances?" Shizuru asked him.

"Yeah, exactly!" Kuwabara agreed. "That's a private thing!"

"So what, we should take a leaf out of your book, and never go on and on about that special someone in our lives?" Shizuru asked him, turning her head to wink at Keiko and Botan.

"Oh, right…" Kuwabara grumbled, apparently finally understanding what she was implying. "Well at least I have a special someone in my life…"

He had muttered out his last remark so very quietly, but Shizuru was on her feet before Keiko could even blink. Yukina tried to placate the siblings to stop any violence, but their verbal exchange only ended when Hiei entered the room.

"Good morning Hiei!" Botan called over to him.

He gave her a long, slightly strange, look, before turning his attention to Kuwabara.

"I heard a disturbance in here," he said.

"Oh it was nothing," Botan said, piling some extra food onto her plate. "I was just about to bring you some breakfast."

"Hiei can eat here with us," Keiko said.

Botan ignored her completely – as though she had not even spoken – and gathered up her stash before crossing the room and ushering Hiei out. Shizuru gave Kuwabara one more slap over the back of the head and then sat back down.

"I still think that's weird," Keiko said to anyone who would listen, pointing a finger at the door Botan and Hiei had left through.

"I'm trying really hard not to think about it," Kuwabara said. "I don't need that mental image in my head, I've got finals coming up."

Keiko was still less than convinced, and she felt even less reassured by Kuwabara's next remark.

"Hey Kazuma, did you meet Kurama's new girl Maya?" his sister asked him.

"Not really," he said. "And right after Botan pushed her into Kurama's face, they both basically disappeared. I had a marketing class that afternoon, and Maya is in that class, but she didn't show."

Keiko slowly placed down her bowl and turned to fully face Kuwabara.

"Wait a minute…" she said. "I had a calculus class yesterday morning and Maya is in that class – and she didn't show to that either."

"Well she came over to us at lunchtime, so she was on campus yesterday," Kuwabara replied. "Maybe she was sick."

"She's taking marketing and calculus?" Shizuru asked.

"She takes classes in just about everything," Keiko said, rolling her eyes.

Shizuru nodded slowly, a pensive look on her face, but said nothing. Keiko wanted to ask her what she was thinking, but decided she may be as well waiting, since all the girls seemed to think her dislike of Maya was based on jealousy: she would wait until she was in a class with Maya again, and she would simply go directly to the source.

* * *

"What are you doing? Get your oar and fly up here like you usually do."

Hiei peered down at Botan, who, after handing him the plate of food, was attempting to climb the tree he had already scaled. She laughed awkwardly and made some remark about her absent-mindedness before summoning her oar and flying up to his level. She hesitated before him for a moment, which he assumed she was doing because she thought there was not enough space on the branch for her to sit beside him, and so he shuffled closer to the base of the branch. He stuffed an entire riceball into his mouth – which was something he usually did – but, for the first time ever, he regretted doing so, as Botan slid off her oar and literally landed on him.

He grunted and readied himself to push her off, to sit on the branch at his side. It was not the first time she had done exactly the same thing, usually landing on him in a disgraceful, embarrassed heap, being at first apologetic and then quickly turning hostile and argumentative when he pushed her off. This time, however, despite having fallen far heavier and with far less space to even attempt to right herself than usual, she had somehow landed sitting perfectly in his lap with one arm around his shoulders and her other hand resting on his chest.

"What are you doing?" he growled at her.

"Oh dear, I'm so clumsy!" she casually replied. "I appeared to have fallen right on top of you, Hiei!"

Hiei narrowed his eyes at her, but she made no attempt to move – which was unexpected, as, historically, when she had accidentally landed on him or bumped into him, she usually shot away from him looking red-faced and outraged, and would then immediately try to blame the incident on someone or something else. He tried to tell her to get off of him, but his mouth was crammed full of rice, and he could neither spit it out (lest he spit it all over her face) nor could he swallow it down quickly. He tried to chew through it as quickly as he could, but his throat was tightening, making his task all the more difficult to achieve.

"Do you believe that dreams have meaning, Hiei?" she asked.

Hiei shook his head and managed to grunt out a "mm-mm" sound that he hoped she would understand as "no-no": but apparently his efforts were in vain, as she slid her battered out notebook from a pocket in pyjamas and gave him one of her silly looks.

"Because I keep a log of my dreams in here," she continued. "And I had a very interesting dream about you last week."

Hiei shook his head again – he had already heard enough just to know that she had been dreaming about him, he definitely did not want to know what she had dreamt. He had no doubt it involved him dressing as a human and working in an office or something else as ridiculous, and both throwing her off of himself and spitting rice in her face were starting to seem like increasingly acceptable actions to take next, despite their obvious impudence.

"Here we are," she said, as she apparently found which page contained details of her dream.

Hiei glanced at the pages of her book, the sight of countless lines of text and only one tiny scribble of a flowery tree had him chewing as rapidly as he possibly could. He finally managed to swallow enough of the rice to talk clearly without spitting on her and so he did.

"Are you going to move?" he asked her.

"Do you want me to?"

Hiei swallowed the remaining rice in his mouth hard, trying to ignore the feeling growing in the pit of his abdomen when she left an obvious pause between the words "me" and "to", leaving him hanging on the momentary assumption that her question had an entirely different meaning.

"Let me read this to you first, Hiei," she said, looking very deeply into his eyes, her face suddenly seeming much closer to his than it had before. "I was walking through an apple orchard in the spring time, enjoying the sweet scent of the blossoms in the trees. The air was filled with butterflies and floating pink petals."

"I have better things to do with my time than listen to this drivel–"

"I stopped to admire one tree and that was when I realised that I wasn't alone in the orchard: Hiei was there too. He approached me swiftly and removed his scarf."

"This isn't realistic–"

"He told me to turn around, and then he wrapped his scarf around my wrists and tied them to a branch of the tree."

Hiei opened his mouth and Botan paused to look at him expectantly: but a suitable argument failed to surface in his mind, and no sound left him.

"He had tied me up facing the trunk of the tree. He crouched down by my feet and began slowly lifting up my kimono, running his hands up my–"

Hiei lifted Botan up and dropped her onto the branch at his side before leaping to his feet and jumping from the tree. He hit the ground and started to run, but stopped after just a few yards when something hit him in the back of the head. He spun around, noticing first that Botan was exactly where he had left her, still clutching her stupid book. He then looked down at the ground and found a lengthy twig, from the tree he had been sitting in. He looked up at Botan again: give the size, shape and weight of the twig, she could not possibly have thrown it at that angle, least of all with enough force and speed to catch and hit him.

"Hiei, why must you deny yourself the things you enjoy the most?" she called down to him.

Hiei gave an irritated growl and then fled, unhindered, all the way back to Demon World.

* * *

Shizuru was standing out on the temple lawns, under the guise that she was taking a smoke break: but in reality, she wanted to get a good view of the temple roof, and so had walked a sufficient distance from the building to take in the entire roof – or as much as she could see from ground level. She was not convinced that the presence she had felt the night before was from a demon insect, as Botan had said it was. Whilst it was not that she thought Botan had maliciously lied, she was also aware that the ferry girl was not beyond bending the truth when she was under strict instruction from Spirit World, and, as Spirit World were in the middle of trying to take control of a portion of Demon World, Shizuru was almost certain that Botan knew a lot more than she was letting on, and was also surely under orders to protect any and all humans from any ill results of Spirit World's present endeavours.

Shizuru could, of course, have forced at least some of the truth out of Botan: but she was equally concerned that doing so might only cause more problems than it would yield answers, and so she decided to start by doing a little investigating of her own. She was trying to keep her actions as inconspicuous as possible: alerting her brother would make him worry (or perhaps even panic, as Yukina was present); alerting Yukina would alert Kuwabara indirectly; alerting Keiko seemed like a bad idea, as she was neither in the humour for it, nor did she possess the necessary heightened spiritual awareness to assist Shizuru in her task; alerting Botan would only cause the ferry girl to hinder her progress as she surely was hiding something (her behaviour was a little erratic, and that was a usually a very good sign that something bad was happening, and she was trying to over-compensate by being overly cheerful); and Hiei's presence was both odd and inconsistent, but likewise, Shizuru felt alerting him would do her little good. She just needed a few minutes to feel out for any signs of anything lingering.

After several minutes, she felt nothing. Whatever it was that had visited the temple was long (and far) gone. It had not been anything like even any of the energies she had felt during the Dark Tournament, but it was something more significant than a regular wandering spirit or a stray demon insect. With a sigh of resignation – and pushing the thought to the back of her mind to address another time – Shizuru started back across the lawn towards the temple.

Despite it being summer, the weather had been a little unpredictable in the last few days – something Shizuru suspected may also be linked to the ongoing issues in the other two worlds – and as she walked, occasional gusts of wind eased over her. There was nothing sinister about it, yet it felt unusual to her regardless, and even more so when, as she neared the porch, a gust of wind came at her from the other side of the temple, carrying small particles of dirt from the roof with it, spraying them all around her. She stopped to brush herself down, patting away any excess grit before smoothing her hands though her hair.

And there she paused.

Very little of the dirt or grit had landed on her, but there was something tangled in her hair that had not been there before. After a short pause of surprise, she reached both hands to the object at the back of her head, untangling it from her hair before bringing it around to look at it.

Shizuru frowned: it was a feather, too large and too brilliant a shade of blue to have come from any of the birds in the forest.

And it contained a very faint hint of demon energy.

* * *

"How are you feeling today?"

Keiko turned to Yukina, who, despite having been the one to have done most of the cooking that morning, actually seemed happy to be the one left washing the dishes.

"I'm good," Keiko replied, picking up a plate and drying it off. "It's nice to get a break away."

"Yes, I like coming here," Yukina agreed. "I'm so glad everyone could make it."

"Yeah, we just need Yusuke and Kurama, and we'd have a full house," Keiko replied.

Yukina smiled and gave a small laugh.

"Though I guess it makes sense they're not here," Keiko continued, in spite of common sense telling her she should stop. "I mean, Yusuke is so unreliable – especially since he became a demon – and I suppose Kurama is too busy with his new girlfriend."

"Botan really likes Maya," Yukina said, in her usual, diplomatic manner.

"Botan likes everyone," Keiko sharply replied.

"Do you think Maya would be unkind to Mister Kurama?" Yukina asked.

She looked so sweet and so genuinely concerned as she asked the question, Keiko suddenly felt overcome with guilt.

"Yukina, the truth is, I don't really know that much about Maya," she confessed. "All I know is that she is odd and she seems a little cold and unfriendly. And…"

"Are you wondering why Kurama would be interested in a girl like that when he wasn't interested in you?"

Keiko baulked, but Yukina seemed unfazed by how blunt her question had been. Her unexpected candour was so that Keiko found herself unable to give an answer in any other tone than the one she had been addressed in.

"A little bit, yes," she admitted. "I'm not saying I'm better than Maya, but…"

Yukina nodded and appeared to understand, which was a relief to Keiko, as it saved her the bother of retracting her last remark: after all, she failed to see how Maya was – in any way at all – more attractive or interesting than herself.

"Botan said Maya and Kurama met before, at school," Yukina offered. "Perhaps they were just talking about that. Perhaps, after this weekend, Kurama will tell us that Maya is just an old friend."

"What then?" Keiko asked.

Yukina frowned and Keiko suddenly realised what she had just said.

"What do you mean?" Yukina asked.

"N-nothing…" Keiko lied, distracting herself with her task of drying the dishes.

The two continued on in silence until all the dishes were cleaned, dried and stored, only then starting back to the living room area. On their way there, both stopped abruptly at an unexpected sound: a knock on the front door.

"Who could that be?" Keiko asked.

"Perhaps it's Yusuke and Kurama," Yukina suggested with a smile.

"I doubt it!" Keiko replied, smiling back at her.

Ahead of them, Kuwabara opened the door, and both Keiko and Yukina quickly changed demeanour when Koenma, in his adult form, walked into the temple.

"Kuwabara, hello," he said. "Is your sister nearby?"

"Yeah, sure," Kuwabara replied. "But what do you need to speak to her for?"

Kuwabara, who had looked a little offended, soon started to look worried when Koenma stared back at him, pale-faced and hollow-eyed.

"I'm so sorry Kuwabara," he said quietly. "At a time like this, with everything going on in Spirit World right now, I can't ignore my duties."

Kuwabara started to ask him what he meant, but stopped short when the door was pushed further open and the physically largest member of the SDF stepped into the temple.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Koenma and the SDF have come to arrest a member of our group, but are their motivations for doing so just? **Chapter 5a: Partners**


	5. Partners

**Chapter 5a: Partners**

"I'm so sorry Kuwabara. At a time like this, with everything going on in Spirit World right now, I can't ignore my duties."

"What are you talking about?" Kuwabara asked, the very solemn look on Koenma's adult face giving him a sickening feeling in the very pit of his stomach. "What do you mean..."

Kuwabara's voice trailed off as the physically largest member of the SDF stepped into the temple, ducking his head to fit through the doorframe.

"What's going on?" Keiko called over to them from further down the hall.

"I'm sorry, I got a report from a very reliable source that there may have been a demon here last night," Koenma announced. "And we believe it came here for a very specific purpose: to communicate with one of you. One of you who summoned it here. One of you who may have been tricked into aiding the demon."

"What?" Kuwabara echoed.

"One of you who is acting as a spy for Demon World," the SDF officer flatly replied.

"What?" Keiko and Kuwabara both yelped in unison.

"Kuwabara, I really hope it's all just been a misunderstanding, but I can't risk assuming that," Koenma gently answered him. "I have to take action. Please forgive me."

"Are you arresting Kazuma?" Yukina asked, one fist pressed to her chest. "He hasn't done anything wrong! He is the most noble and true soul I have ever known: he would never betray you, or Spirit World, or this world or any of us!"

Kuwabara pouted and Koenma, feeling that Yukina's speech was both accurate and helpful in his defence: but when Koenma continued to wear the same, sorrowful, anxious look on his face, Kuwabara started to realise the sickening truth: he was not the one Koenma had come to take away.

"What the hell is this?"

Kuwabara turned as the SDF officer stepped out of the room behind him, hauling Shizuru with him, her hands bound behind her back.

"Just think of this as a formality," Koenma tried. "I know Shizuru hasn't done anything wrong, but I can only prove her innocence by taking her to Spirit World and following process."

"Koenma! What are you doing with Shizuru?" Botan asked, rushing out into the hall.

"I need you all to step back," Koenma calmly said. "Please. Don't make this difficult."

"Difficult? You can't just take my sister away, she didn't do anything!" Kuwabara argued. "I won't let you take her!"

With one smooth movement of his hands, Kuwabara had summoned his spirit sword, and his eyes were locked onto those of the SDF officer holding his sister far too tightly by the arm.

"Kazuma, stop!" Shizuru quickly said. "Let it go, it's okay!"

Kuwabara moved his eyes to his sister, who looked anything but okay.

"I've got nothing to hide," she said, in a controlled voice. "I haven't done anything. If you let them take me away now, they'll see that they made a mistake, and they'll let me go. But if you fight this, you make it look like I do have something to hide, and you get yourself into a world of trouble too."

"But Shizuru "

"And I don't want any excuses from you for missing classes next week, so step back and let it go!"

Kuwabara knew his sister was full of bravado and perhaps even more afraid than he was right then, but despite that, she was trying to be sensible: but the injustice of what was happening was still too much for him to bear.

"I can't!" he cried.

"Do you really have to do this?" Botan asked Koenma. "Can't we all just sit down, have a nice cup of tea, and talk it over?"

"This gone a little beyond that, I'm afraid," Koenma solemnly replied.

"Then I'm coming with you!" Kuwabara declared.

"No you are not!" Shizuru snapped at him.

Koenma nodded at the SDF soldier and he began to move on, hauling Shizuru along with him. Kuwabara made to follow them but stopped at the sensation of a familiar touch on his arm. He looked down and saw Yukina at his side.

"Stay there, I'll be back," Shizuru insisted.

"Yeah, we'll see about that," the SDF officer pushing her along muttered.

"As soon I've answered your questions, you're gonna let me go, or I'm gonna put these restraints on you and kick you in the face until you cry for your mother, and then I'm gonna wipe your blood off the sole of my shoe and walk back home!" Shizuru shot back at him.

When he looked back at her with a look of shock and a hint of genuine concern, Kuwabara felt a little more assured that his sister would surely prove her innocence and shortly be released: and, reluctantly, he relaxed a little, his spirit sword fading out of existence.

"You're right Yukina, I know she'll be okay," he said, looking down at the large red eyes looking up at him expectantly. "I know she'll be back soon and Spirit World will be sorry they every messed with her."

"That's not what I wanted to say, Kazuma," Yukina replied, her tone – although quiet and even – containing a harsh edge to it. "I wanted to tell you that we should go with her anyway."

"This is awful!" Botan wailed.

"I agree with Yukina," Keiko said. "We should go after her: this isn't right!"

Kuwabara watched through the open door as Koenma approached a temporary portal back to Spirit World that had appeared on the temple lawn, hopping through it ahead of the SDF officer and Shizuru. Once all three had disappeared, the portal closing behind them almost instantly, he turned to the others behind him.

"I'll go to Spirit World," he told them.

"No, didn't you hear what Koenma said?" Botan responded. "He said they came here because someone reported that there was a demon here. And last night there was that odd demon insect on the roof."

"So?" Kuwabara asked.

"So Keiko can't go to Spirit World and she can't fight off a demon if one arrives here," Botan replied. "Someone capable should remain here to protect her, it might not be safe here – especially not if Koenma thought this a serious enough threat to alert the SDF and arrest poor Shizuru like that!"

"Okay, I guess that makes sense," Kuwabara reluctantly agreed. "So what do you suggest?"

"I'll go to Spirit World. I can fly there on my oar, I will get passage to find out what is really happening, and I can help: I can convince Koenma that he has made a big mistake!"

"Okay…"

"You stay here and keep guard. Protect Keiko and Yukina."

"Okay, but don't come back until you've got my sister, got it?"

Botan nodded and summoned her oar. She started for the door but stumbled to a halt when, in a movement too fast for even Kuwabara's eyes, Yukina had managed to dart ahead and position herself in the open doorway, blocking the ferry girl's exit.

"I would like to come with you," she said.

Her voice still sounded a little strange to Kuwabara, and he could sense that something was amiss, particularly as she seemed unusually tense.

"Oh my, how sweet of you, Yukina!" Botan chirped. "But that really won't be necessary. You should stay here, with Keiko and Kuwabara."

Yukina's brow lowered, almost imperceptibly, casting a slight shadow over her eyes.

"I would like to come with you," she simply said again.

"W-well…"

Botan cast a nervous look over her shoulder at Kuwabara.

"Shizuru is my friend," Yukina continued. "She has been very kind to me. She has taken good care of me since I came to live here, in the human world. I have to help her, I know she would do the same for me."

"Yukina, you don't have to do that, my love," Kuwabara said to her. "Botan can go to Spirit World and sort it all out: and don't worry about Shizuru, she can handle herself."

"I have to do this," Yukina said, sounding uncharacteristically stubborn all of a sudden. "Please let me do this, Kazuma."

Kuwabara looked over at Keiko, who, in the absence of his sister, was the next best person present he could consult for sensible advice.

"Okay, Yukina can go with Botan, but you have to stay here with me, Kuwabara," she said to him. "I don't want demons coming here if I'm left here all alone."

"Well, I suppose I could take you with me, Yukina," Botan said, her voice awkward and her words slowed as though she was as much asking whether she should take Yukina as she was stating that she would.

Yukina nodded and, after one last worried glance back at Kuwabara, Botan moved forwards. Together they moved outside and sat onto Botan's oar.

"Good luck," Keiko called to them.

"Yes, thank you, Keiko!" Botan called back as they began ascending through the air.

Kuwabara watched them go, noticing that their flight pattern was quite wobbly, and that they shifted direction a little sharper than Botan usually would. He continued watching until they had vanished from sight, by which point, he had wandered out onto the porch, and Keiko had moved out to join him.

"Well this is terrible," Keiko said forlornly. "All week I'd been looking forward to coming up here, and no part of it has been even remotely enjoyable."

"Yeah…" Kuwabara slowly replied. "Hey Keiko, maybe I should take you home. That way you're not here if any demons come back, and I can go to Spirit World and get Yukina and my sister back."

"I guess that's probably the best idea," Keiko reluctantly agreed. "If we take your dad's truck, you can just take me as far as my own car – it's parked at the bottom of the hill. I can take myself back to campus from there."

"Okay, then could you do me a favour?"

"Of course."

"When you get back to campus, can you tell Kurama what's happening and tell him to meet me in Spirit World?"

"Absolutely."

Kuwabara nodded and together they moved back inside the temple to pack up and leave.

* * *

Keiko folded her arms and frowned as she watched Kuwabara tap at the screen of his phone redundantly.

"I'm getting a good signal down here, I don't understand why my calls aren't going through," he said.

On the drive down to Keiko's car, Kuwabara had had the idea that he could call Kurama from his mobile phone. Down at the bottom of the mountain, where Keiko was parked, it was easier to get a reliable signal, but despite that, Kuwabara had failed to reach Kurama, even after several attempts to call him.

"I'll go to his room and talk to him when I get back," Keiko said. "I won't be long."

"Yeah but Botan hasn't even called us, and I've got a really bad feeling about Shizuru and Yukina being in Spirit World right now," Kuwabara replied.

He finally stowed his phone in his pocket, but then promptly produced a communication mirror from his other pocket, and proceeded to attempt to call Kurama with the Spirit World device. Keiko at first found standing around watching him mutter "come on, come" at various communication devices irritating, but when he still failed to reach Kurama, she began to grow a little concerned herself.

"He should pick that thing up, right?" she asked when Kuwabara finally stopped trying. "I mean, it's one thing for him to ignore his phone ringing, but that thing means a problem, so he should always pick it up, right?"

"I just don't like this," Kuwabara quietly replied, his eyes still on his communication mirror.

"What about Hiei?"

Kuwabara shot Keiko a look that was as surprised as the feeling she had for having even mentioned the fire demon's name.

"He was here last night," she pointed out. "He can't be far, and he is Kurama's closest friend."

"…I thought I was Kurama's closest friend…" Kuwabara muttered.

"This isn't a competition Kuwabara!" Keiko snapped. "Think about it: if you can't find Kurama, Hiei is the best person to ask for help."

"Well I guess," Kuwabara grumbled. "I mean, if you want to look at it like that, I guess it makes sense…"

"So call Hiei and ask him where Kurama is."

Kuwabara nodded and opened up the communication mirror again. He pushed a button to make a call, and very quickly he received an answer.

"Stop bothering me fool, I have better things to do with my time than chaperone you as you spy on a group of females."

Keiko watched Kuwabara carefully as he stared silently at the screen.

"Did he…?" she asked, when neither Kuwabara nor Hiei spoke again for some time.

Kuwabara nodded.

"He hung on you," Keiko said with a sigh. "I don't know why I thought Hiei would be any help to us… Well, back to our original plan: I'll tell Kurama to meet you in Spirit World. And good luck."

He nodded and, deciding not to waste any more time, she got into her car and drove away. As she left, she watched Kuwabara in her rearview mirror, the feeling of uneasiness she had only growing when he continued to just stand there looking down at his blank communication mirror. Eventually, through the trees and the turns in the road, she lost sight of him, and was left to drive on alone, along the quiet country road, all the while wondering if there was a more sinister reason that Koenma had taken Shizuru away. She felt that there must be, as Koenma knew as well as anyone that Shizuru was the least outrageous of the group and the least likely to be corrupted or to become a spy for a demon: yet he had seemed oddly determined about taking her. Something was definitely amiss.

And Keiko's feelings of unease worsened exponentially when, out of nowhere, Mister Kuwabara's truck flew past her and raced out of sight ahead of her.

* * *

Shizuru sat still, both relieved and irritated that she had been moved to a small empty room. At first, upon her arrival in Spirit World, the SDF soldier had taken her down to the prison, and put her into a holding cell, where she had spent a good hour in a shouting match with the other inmates, until she was once more moved to the room she now found herself in. She had been taken there by another SDF officer – one who looked rather like Shizuru herself – who had called the room "an interview room": though Shizuru was under no illusion that it was anything other than an interrogation room. She was sitting on a hard chair, facing a small square table, and in the corners of the rooms were odd, man-sized boxes that she was certain contained nothing good. The peacefulness of the silence in the room was welcome after the riotous noise of the prison, but it was also a concerning reminder that the room she was in also appeared to be completely sound-proof, which only further alerted her to it being some kind of interrogation facility.

Finally, after what was probably no more than ten minutes, and yet felt like twice as long as she had been in the holding cell down in Spirit World's prison, the door opened and an ogre stepped into the room.

"You have a visitor," he announced. "You may have five minutes."

He stepped back and the last person Shizuru had expected to see stepped into the room, the door shortly closing again, leaving Shizuru alone with her guest.

"Are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Shizuru numbly shook her head.

"What are you doing here, sweetheart?" she asked.

Yukina clasped her hands together in front of herself and silently walked over to sit down in the chair positioned at the other side of the table from Shizuru.

"I know you shouldn't be here," she said as she settled into the chair.

"And neither should you," Shizuru answered her. "Damn it, where's my brother? If you're here and I'm here, he better not be in the prison holding cells right now!"

Yukina shook her head.

"No, he's still in the human world," she said. "I made sure he didn't come here too. It's already too dangerous."

Shizuru paused. Something about Yukina seemed different, and the idea that she was in some sort of Spirit World interrogation room had her thinking the worst possible scenario.

"I think something's wrong with Botan."

Shizuru tilted her head, but said nothing, deciding to simply let Yukina speak – if she even was Yukina.

"Last night she told me my brother is very fickle. I thought that was strange, because Botan has never mentioned that she knows Hiei is my brother before."

Shizuru could do little more than blink as she found Yukina's words to be increasingly confusing and unusual.

"I asked her how long she had known that Hiei is my brother, and she told me she's always known," Yukina continued. "And then she showed me a page in her notebook where she had written "talking to Yukina about her relationship to Hiei" in green ink, and another page where she had written "talking to Hiei about his sister Yukina" in red ink. I asked her why she had written those things, and she said things written in red mean things that are bad, but things written in green mean things that are good. But Botan has known Hiei is my brother for many years, and last night was the first time she ever spoke to me about it."

Shizuru looked down at the table just long enough to allow her mind to replay the moment Botan had shown her those exact same pages of her notebook, and the words she had spoken when she had done so: ordinarily Shizuru would not remember so clearly something so trivial, but Botan's apparent code in her notebook had been so ridiculous, the memory of it had lingered in painful clarity.

" _I wrote this in red ink, to remind myself to stop and don't talk to Hiei about it," Botan had said. "And also because Hiei has red eyes. And then over here, I wrote this in green ink, to remind myself to go ahead and shut up about it. And also because Yukina has green hair."_

"And there was a partner on the roof of the temple."

Shizuru's eyes snapped back to Yukina.

"A partner is a type of demon," Yukina explained. "Demons are all named for their powers or abilities, and the partners are named so because that is what they do: they act as partners to others. On their own, they can't do much, but when they partner with another demon, they can maximise their strength. A partner demon is only interested in finding a partner and supporting their partner. A partner demon would have no reason to come to the human world – not unless its partner was already there, or unless it was carrying a message for its partner to someone in the human world."

Shizuru slowly nodded her head as she finally realised exactly what had happened the night before.

* * *

Keiko sighed and rolled her eyes as yet another boy walked past her, commenting on the fact that she was standing knocking on a door in the male dormitory that remained unanswered. Kurama was clearly not in his room, and though the possibility that he had gone home to visit his mother for the weekend was very likely, she was still sure that something was wrong, and that his absence was abnormal. And so, after waiting until the boy who had called out to her was well out of sight, she decided to make use of a trick Yusuke had taught her: she slipped a strategically bent paperclip from her sleeve and began working open the lock on Kurama's door.

The task was easier than she had expected or remembered from her previous attempts when Yusuke had shown her his method, which left her questioning the security of the dorm room doors altogether. She gave one last look around to ensure she was not being watched before slipping inside the room and quietly closing the door behind herself.

"Oh wow, his room even tidier than mine!" she whispered to herself as she looked around the immaculate room.

Books on bookshelf were all in alphabetical order, plants on the purposely extended windowsill were lined in order of the colour of pot they were in – following the order of the colour spectrum of a rainbow – and the air was cool and smelt vaguely sweet.

But whilst it was clear that Kurama's room was very orderly, it was also clear that he had not slept in it the night before.

Keiko then dearly hoped that he had gone to spend the long weekend with his mother: because otherwise, since being reunited with Maya, Kurama had disappeared.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Yusuke decides to join the party at Genkai's, but when he turns up, he finds only one of his friends still there. Kuwabara tries to plea for his sister's release from Spirit World, and Yukina sets out on an unusual mission. **Chapter 6a – News from Home**


	6. News from Home

**Chapter 6a: News from Home**

Yusuke stopped at the top of the temple steps, his hands in his pockets, and an unimpressed look darkening his eyes. He had been unable to reach Koenma to find out what announcement he had apparently made, but Hokushin had been able to fill him in, and it sounded like little more than a dumb military exercise by the SDF that would yield nothing for Spirit World and ultimately just waste everyone's time. Satisfied that it was nothing dangerous or interesting, his attention had then shifted to Kuwabara's call regarding the girls' sleepover at Genkai's old place. He had been left with the impression that Kuwabara was going to attempt to join them, which was surely going to end in tears (for Kuwabara) and that at least sounded like an amusing way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and so Yusuke had returned to the human world and made his way to Genkai's: only to find it in quiet and abandoned, and with no hint that anyone was there or had been there recently.

He started to walk on, deciding to go inside and have a look around regardless, but stopped after just a few steps when, on the very limits of his hearing, he caught the faintest hint of a voice raised in anger. He strained to listen, but neither recognised the voice nor could he make out what was being said. However, he did not have to wonder for long, as suddenly a small spike in demon energy appeared, and it was moving towards him at a speed that almost rivalled Hiei's. A shadow swept over him and disappeared into the trees, and although it had been the demon in question, Yusuke's attention was locked squarely onto the brightly coloured object streaking through the sky in hot pursuit of the demon.

"Hey!" he yelled.

Botan over-shot him in her efforts to stop, before turning and an oddly sharp and awkward angle. As she sighted him beneath her her face tensed and, just to make the situation even more odd, she summoned her metal baseball bat. She started downwards, sliding off her oar, which hit the ground before it disappeared.

"Botan, what the hell are you doing?" he asked.

Her face changed instantly and the bat vanished.

"Oh you!" she gushed. "You startled me! You shouldn't sneak up on a girl like that! And what are you doing out here, in this remote place, all alone?"

Yusuke narrowed his eyes.

"I know what's going on, Botan," he warned her. "Koenma didn't tell me, but I know exactly what Spirit World are doing right now."

"Oh, isn't it terrible?" she responded.

"No, it's just dumb," Yusuke casually replied. "What was that thing you were chasing after?"

Botan glanced up in the direction she had been flying, throwing an oddly harsh look that way, her eyes lingering there before returning to him and her expression softening once more.

"You could see that?" she asked.

"Of course I could, idiot," Yusuke replied. "Gees Botan, what is wrong with you? You're acting ditzier than usual..."

"Oh you!" she said again.

Yusuke looked over at the temple.

"So what happened here?" he asked, turning back to Botan. "Kuwabara told me you girls were having a party up here, but here we are, and there's only you. So, what happened? Did you scare them off or did they just stand you up?"

"Oh, Yusuke!"

Yusuke frowned. There was something a little odd about the way she had just said his name, her statement coming out sounding as much like a realisation as it did an admonishment of his joke.

"Yusuke, not you too!" she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Oh dear, this just won't do! First our little party was crashed by Hiei, then Kuwabara, and now you too, Yusuke!"

Yusuke frowned.

"Hiei was here?" he asked.

"Yes, he was worried about his sister," Botan replied.

"He always worries about Yukina, but not usually enough that it makes him want to join a party involving you, Shizuru and Keiko," Yusuke pointed out.

"Oh, well, of course, you must know by now that Hiei and I are dating."

Yusuke snorted.

"That's really funny Botan," he said flatly. "But if I were you, I wouldn't go making that joke around Hiei."

"It's not a joke!" she indignantly replied. "We have been dating for quite some time, as a matter of fact. Hiei is just very shy about talking about it."

Yusuke was almost certain Botan was playing some sort of trick on him, as he knew for a fact that there was nothing romantic going on between her and Hiei: had she said that she had just started dated Hiei, Yusuke might have been inclined to believe her, but the fact that she had just said they had been dating for "quite some time" told him she was lying.

"Really?" he asked, deciding to play along with her bizarre ruse, if only to see where she was going with it. "Okay, then when exactly did you and Hiei hook up?"

"The Dark Tournament," she flawlessly replied. "But he's so shy, he won't admit it."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes."

The Dark Tournament had happened several years earlier, and, even as late as the Demon World Tournament, Yusuke and Kurama had been able to tease Hiei about the not-so-subtle crush that Botan obviously had on him, and his response had made it quite clear that he neither believed that she was attracted to him nor had he ever even so much as thought about acting upon it. And, despite what he liked others to believe about him, Hiei was not that great a liar, least of all to those who knew him well, like Yusuke and Kurama.

"Well it must be true love," Yusuke began, doing little to restrain the sarcasm in his tone. "Because here we are, on a Saturday night, neither of you are working, and you're up here, all alone, and Hiei's camping in the woods in Demon World, all alone."

Botan stiffened and her face darkened.

"Not everyone experiences romance in the same way you know, Yusuke," she said. "You can't compare my relationship with Hiei to the relationship you have with Keiko, for example."

"No, not at all," Yusuke replied.

"Because Hiei isn't neglectful of my needs, and I don't have a wandering eye."

Yusuke was momentarily frozen in shock. It was entirely unlike Botan to be so cold and direct, but more than that, her words were laden with implications, none of which he liked in the slightest.

"The hell is that supposed to mean, Botan?" he recovered.

"I mean Hiei doesn't disappear to Demon World, for months on end, leaving me... Now what was it Keiko said again, let me just check..."

Botan produced her idiotic notebook from an unseen pocket and began flicking through it. Yusuke rarely had patience for the trivial, but he forced himself to wait for the conclusion of whatever Botan was looking for, as he knew that she did document many things in that book, and if it contained something that Keiko had said about him, something he had done to upset her, he wanted to know what it was.

"Ah here we are," she said as she reached the page she apparently sought. "This entry is from Keiko's most recent birthday: "Keiko should have been happy today, but, as hard as we all tried to make the day great for her, she remained miserable because Yusuke didn't show up. Again. Keiko said she is tired of feeling like he only bothers with her when he has nothing better to do, or when he needs fed or a place to sleep when he visits the human world." So sad..."

Botan moved her eyes to look sideways over at Yusuke.

"Shall I continue?" she asked in a low voice.

"I forgot, okay?" Yusuke growled back at her. "I went to see her the next day, but she wouldn't see me! She had her dad tell me she was out. The whole day!"

"She was out the whole day, Yusuke," Botan replied, her voice still in that odd, lowered tone. "Didn't you know?"

Yusuke felt something shift inside of him, and suddenly he began to get a very bad feeling about the conversation he was sharing with Botan.

"I'll read on, shall I?" she offered.

Yusuke numbly nodded and Botan moved her eyes back to her notebook.

""We all noticed that Keiko blushed when Kurama wished her happy birthday with a kiss"–"

"What?"

""–on the cheek. Kurama is always so considerate to all of us, but it seems like Keiko appreciates it that bit more than the rest of us, especially when she is feeling down. Of course, I think she has a little bit of a crush on Kurama: and it all started when he beat her in a calculus competition. And now, after seeing how upset she was that Yusuke wasn't there today to take her out for dinner, Kurama very kindly offered to let Keiko join him and his family tomorrow when they go for lunch at Sarayashiki Gardens. Keiko, of course, jumped at the chance. I wonder if she'll ever tell Yusuke about this? After all, Kuwabara and I are a little suspicious of it: to us, it seems like Keiko considers this to be a date.""

Botan snapped her notebook shut.

"Oh dear..." she said, her voice once more in that lowered tone.

Yusuke swallowed hard.

"Botan, I know you like to meddle, and I know you like to play up any "romance" you see between me and Keiko," he said. "But if you think Keiko is interested in Kurama, or that Kurama – who is one of my best friends – would act on that, then you are out of your damn mind!"

"I'm so sorry Yusuke, I thought you already knew about... The things going on between Keiko and Kurama... That's why we cut the party short this weekend: Keiko didn't show. She said she wanted to stay on campus to "study" with Kurama. Didn't you know? I guess not, if you never visit her..."

Yusuke was highly suspicious about exactly why Botan would want to aggravate him so, but he was significantly more concerned that what she was telling him might be true, and so he tried to stay focused.

"Where's Kuwabara?" he asked her.

"Well, when Keiko didn't join us this weekend, Kuwabara said he would like to take Yukina away from a romantic weekend," Botan replied. "They are so sweet together, don't you think? He is so attentive of her! He has so many commitments here in his human life – his studies, working, his family – but he will drop it all and go running if Yukina needs something from him. Now that is true love."

"You mean like the true love between you and Hiei? Where you awkwardly rub yourself up against him and he spits on you?"

Botan hugged her notebook to her chest and screwed up her face in disapproval, but Yusuke was done talking to her. Something was amiss with her – mostly because she never read out personal entries from her notebook – but he decided to deal with that issue later. His first priority was of course to find Keiko.

* * *

Kuwabara was speechless. Koenma remained still, sitting in his large chair, his tiny hands clasped on the surface of his desk before him.

"I don't know what else to tell you, Kuwabara," Koenma said after a short, horrible silence had passed between them. "I'm sorry. I can't take this lying down."

"I don't understand why you're doing this!" Kuwabara shouted, slamming his hands on the desk.

Paperwork and stationery jumped into the air, and what did not fall back down onto the desk was deftly caught by George, Koenma's faithful servant, who darted around catching or grabbing up any stray item.

"I received a report from a very reliable source that Shizuru may be under the thrall of a demon," Koenma explained again. "And even though I really don't believe it to be true, I am obliged to take the report seriously: especially when the source is so reliable."

"The source?" Kuwabara asked. "Who's the snitch? I'll sort him out!"

Kuwabara straightened to his fullest height, smacking one fist into his open palm.

"Kuwabara, if you stay here, with that attitude, it will be harder for me to convince the council of Spirit World – people like the officers of the SDF – that Shizuru is innocent," Koenma pointed out. "You should take Yukina, and get out of here. I will do everything I can to clear Shizuru of this accusation and have her back with you as soon as possible. I promise you that."

"Yukina was heart-broken when you took Shizuru away!" Kuwabara argued. "Shizuru is the one who takes care of my love when I'm busy with school!"

"It can't be good then for either of you to stand around here and watch Shizuru being held here," Koenma replied. "Ogre, fetch Yukina and bring her up here."

George dropped the items he had gathered onto Koenma's desk and, with a few simpering words and gestures, hurried out the room to carry out the order given to him.

"Things are sure getting crazy," Kuwabara complained. "First Kurama gets a new girlfriend, then Botan tells us she's dating Hiei and now Spirit World are arresting my sister over nothing!"

Koenma narrowed his eyes and Kuwabara began to suspect that he had said something he ought not to have.

"Botan is dating Hiei?" the prince asked, his voice quiet, his tone testing, as though he thought he had misheard, or else he was being tricked somehow.

"Yeah," Kuwabara replied. "I guess they didn't tell you either, huh? But it's true. I saw them together. It was disgusting..."

Koenma held his suspicious look, and Kuwabara's concern grew.

"Oh gees Koenma, you're not gonna go arrest Botan too, are you?" he asked.

"No," Koenma replied. "Though I suppose I understand."

Kuwabara frowned and Koenma hurriedly shook his head.

"I mean I understand why Botan didn't tell me right now," he qualified. "I don't understand at all why she would… With Hiei… I guess some people say opposites attract, I suppose that's what it must be."

"Botan said she's been dating Hiei for a long time – since the Dark Tournament – and I don't know, maybe Hiei and Botan have more in common than you think," Kuwabara replied. "They can both be pretty hot-headed."

"Well yes, but Botan…"

Koenma slowly stopped talking, his eyes narrowing into the strange, suspicious look again as he regarded Kuwabara. Feeling a little uneasy with it, Kuwabara copied his action and reflected the look back at the prince. For a few seconds, both stared at each other that way, the moment only ending when the doors to Koenma's office burst open and George came racing back into the room. Kuwabara turned, noticing a series of things, each one more troubling than the last: first of all, George had returned alone, without Yukina; secondly he looked panicked, as though something bad had happened; and finally, he was avoiding eye contact with Kuwabara and purposefully gave him a wide berth as he scurried across the room to stand on the other side of Koenma's desk.

"Ogre, I gave you one, simple task," Koenma said with a sigh as George stopped by his chair.

"Yes Sir, I know, but you see the thing is, I couldn't bring Yukina back here," the ogre quietly replied.

"Why not?" Koenma asked.

"Because she isn't here, Sir."

Koenma made an exaggerated gesture of looking around his office before fixing an angered glower onto his servant.

"Well I can see that, ogre!" he snapped. "And the reason Yukina is not here is that the blue idiot I sent to collect her came back here without her!"

"N-no Sir, Yukina is not here," George nervously repeated, putting extra emphasis on the word "here".

Koenma sighed and turned to Kuwabara.

"It's like this everyday," he grumbled.

"Where's Yukina?" Kuwabara asked George directly.

"I keep telling you, she's not here," George replied. "She's left Spirit World already."

"Huh?" Kuwabara echoed.

"Idiot, why didn't you just say that Yukina had gone home instead of coming in here like that and acting like a fool?" Koenma snapped at George.

"Yukina went home already?" Kuwabara asked.

"Well Botan took her here," Koenma answered him. "Botan probably took her back home, too."

"Right… Well I guess I'll go too then," Kuwabara concluded. "But I'm gonna be back if you don't let my sister go real soon!"

"Don't worry Kuwabara, I do believe it's just a formality, and Shizuru will be back home, keeping you in line before you know it."

The thought briefly occurred to Kuwabara that it might not be the worst thing if Spirit World held Shizuru for the rest of the weekend, but he said nothing and took his leave. Yukina had apparently been allowed to visit with Shizuru and talk to her directly – a privilege Koenma had denied Kuwabara without justification – and so at least his beloved would be able to relay to him how his sister was coping with being held prisoner in Spirit World. Kuwabara smiled to himself as he imagined Shizuru beating all the other prisoners into submission: he was sure that, whatever was happening to his older sister right then, she would handle herself just fine.

* * *

The air was growing colder, and it was both a comforting and concerning feeling for Yukina. The ride from the portal out of Spirit World to her ultimate destination was, when flown by ferry girl oar, not a long one, and yet she felt as though she had been granted a long time in silence to consider where she was going and why. Other than when they had first left Spirit World, Ayame had said nothing, and likewise Yukina had not volunteered any conversation. One of the last thoughts Yukina had as they travelled was one that brought a small smile to her face: Ayame had dressed in durable, winter clothing, prepared for the journey ahead, whereas Yukina was sure that had Botan been her escort, her blue-haired friend would no doubt have set out in her usual pink kimono, little appreciating how treacherous the climate would become.

As they began to get buffeted by the intensifying arctic winds, Yukina put a hand on Ayame's shoulder to get her attention.

"This is far enough," she shouted over the roar of the winds. "Leave me here, I can continue the remainder of the journey alone. Thank you for your help."

Ayame nodded and slowly lowered them to the snowy ground, waiting for Yukina to disembark her oar before smiling politely and wishing the ice maiden good luck. Yukina watched her leave – mostly to ensure that she made a safe exit – before turning to face the shadowy shape starting to appear through the blizzards around her.

It had been a long time since she had last set foot in the glacier village, and she wondered just how her return would be received by the other ice maidens.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Keiko decides to go dig up some dirt on Maya, but her venture massively (and quite horribly) backfires on her. Meanwhile Yusuke makes a decision about his future. **Chapter 7a – Not too Clever.**

 **A/N:** This story feels a little patchy, even to me, reading it back in the proof reads: but of course the reason for that is that this is only one half of what is actually happening, and there are some key missing scenes (eg. Botan and Maya at the end of chapter one, what made Yukina go from visiting Shizuru to going back to the ice village, what's up with that wee demon pest that keeps appearing, etc, etc) but these will be covered in their entirety in the B chapters, and, at the moment, they are a tool to keep a bit of mystery going. I essentially wanted to make anyone reading this feel like they are missing something, since, for most of this story, every single character is missing at least one important thing that's going on.

And I guess I'm writing this because I'm getting some of the old "Anything She Does doesn't make sense/I can't follow it/it's too confusing" feedback. Sometimes things are deliberately like that, by design, and that's definitely the case here...


	7. Not too Clever

**Chapter 7a: Not too Clever**

The library was almost empty of life, with only a single librarian at the desk (hunched over, reading a book) and three students, all sitting individually and well away from each other. It was, after all, a Saturday night and a long weekend, and so perhaps only to be expected: but the scenario only made Keiko all the more conscious of exactly what she was doing.

"Hi," she said as she approached the librarian at the desk.

"Just put any returns in the slot," he replied, without looking up from his book.

Keiko rocked on her heels and pursed her lips as she tried to think of how best to continue. An unhelpful librarian would only make her task all the more difficult, but, after failing to find any trace of Kurama and then failing to reach Kuwabara on his phone after several attempts, she felt that she had no other choice.

"I wanted to ask a question," she began slowly. "It might seem a bit odd."

The librarian slowly lifted his head, pressing one hand to the pages of his book and lifting his other hand to his head, combing his fingers through his floppy, highlighted hair.

"You're not the first to ask me," he said, sounding even less engaged than he had when he was still looking at his book. "But school rules are, staff can't date students, okay?"

Keiko rolled her eyes.

"That's not it," she said.

"It's okay," he assured her. "You don't have to be embarrassed. And it's nothing personal."

"No, seriously, that's not what I need to talk to you about," Keiko insisted.

She could feel her face growing hot, but purely from anger. He smiled at her, clearly thinking that she was, in fact, just another student with a crush on him.

"I need to see the log of reference books that have been checked out," Keiko said, deciding to just come to the point.

"Reference books can't be checked out," the librarian replied. "That's why they're called "reference" books."

"Yes, I know that too," Keiko patiently answered. "But they can be reserved. I could come in here at 8 in the morning and sign one out, and as long as I don't leave the library, I would be allowed to keep the book until 8 at night, right?"

"Yeah, sure."

"And you have a book where people write in a note when they do that, right?"

"Yeah."

"I need to see the book."

The librarian pushed himself away from the desk, sliding himself back in his wheeled chair, towards a table behind him. He collected a small, hardback book and wheeled back over, placing it down on the desk in front of Keiko. Keiko tentatively lifted the cover with one finger, before removing her hand and letting it close again.

"This is a new book," she said.

"We take a new book every time we fill up the old one," he replied. "But a new book is good – it means plenty of space for you to write in all the books you'll be checking out for the next," he looked at his watch in an exaggerated, sarcastic gesture, "seventeen minutes."

Keiko suppressed her irritation before answering him.

"I checked out a reference book last month, and I can't remember what it was called," she smoothly lied. "I was hoping if I checked the register, I would see it on there so that I can check it out again."

"We close in just over fifteen minutes," the librarian reminded her.

"I just wanted to get the title," Keiko casually replied. "I was also going to see if I could buy it. If not, I'll come back next week and use the copy here."

The librarian paused, and for a brief, awful, moment, Keiko thought that he had seen through her ruse.

"Okay," he said with a sigh, standing up and slapping both hands down onto the book he had placed in front of her. "I'll be right back."

He took the book away and moved into the office at the back of the room, affording Keiko a moment of respite to sigh and try to calm herself. She could not tell anyone what she was doing, because she already knew what they would think of her for doing it, and, at that particular moment, she could barely even admit to herself what she was doing.

The word "stalking" fleeted through her mind as the librarian returned and handed her a more worn and fully populated book.

"Thank you so very much," she politely replied, bowing her head as she accepted the book.

"I want it back at least five minutes before we close," he warned her.

"No problem," Keiko assured him.

She took the book and quickly moved to the nearest table, sitting down and turning to the very back of the book. There was a small chance she would have found what she sought in the newer checking out book, but she had no time to waste testing that theory out, and the book she had now seemed to date back almost four months, so would surely contain what she sought. She started at the back, with the most recent entries, the very last being only three weeks earlier, and she began working her way backwards in time through the book.

And the third entry she reached was one she sought.

"Nightshade and Opium, A History of Powerful Plants," Keiko muttered under her breath. "Checked out by Maya Kitajima."

Keiko continued through the next three pages, finding Maya's name appearing multiple times, and often multiple times in a single day. The books she was checking out were all about botany or spirituality: which was immediately odd, as, despite the fact that she took classes for an exceptionally wide range of subjects, the two subjects she did not study were botany and spiritual studies. Convinced that her hunch was correct, sure that Maya was trouble – but still not confident enough to tell anyone else, since they were all too quick to dismiss her suspicions as jealousy – Keiko quickly took out her phone and took a photograph of a page with several entries from Maya.

Keiko returned the book to the librarian, who gave her a tight, forced, smile, and then she hurried over to the reference section to locate any of the books Maya had recently checked out. The titles of the books revealed little more than the general subject they covered, and Keiko wanted to know more than that, she wanted to know how academic they were, and why a girl studying so many subjects already would want to start studying two more in what little free time she had.

The first book Keiko found was an old book, with dangerously thin pages and brown ink illustrations of plants. The next book was a glossy book with colour photographs of plants. Neither were particularly out of the ordinary, and, at first glance, the third book she located was not especially unusual either. The third book was one on spirituality, and seemed like a very innocent reference text, filled with case studies written from an unbiased viewpoint: a woman who had a vision that accurately located the body of a murdered child may or may not have been an example of psychic ability, a man who heard voices that led him to saving a child from falling into a frozen lake may or may not have been guided by spirits.

Time was running out and Keiko was torn between the frustrating idea that she would have to leave the library before it closed, feeling as though she had done nothing more than spy on what could be an innocent girl who simply had a zeal for learning and the determination that she had to find something solid to back up her suspicions of Maya before she could do anything else or even confide her concerns in anyone else.

But, with Shizuru taken away, Keiko was unsure who she even could confide in: she felt Botan would take too much convincing, since she thought Maya was wonderful; Yukina was not really the sort to want to help or to take any action even if she thought there was something amiss; Kuwabara would be too caught up in his concern for Shizuru to care; Yusuke was unreliable and Keiko had not seen him for months; Kurama was nowhere to be found, and the reason everyone had decided Maya was perfect in the first place; Atsuko might also suspect Keiko was jealous, as she often speculated that, in Yusuke's continued absences, Keiko's eye may wander; and that only left Hiei.

Keiko sighed. Hiei was neither contactable for her nor helpful to anyone. She held up the book of case studies, flicking through the pages, the resulting draft from the turning pages playing through her hair. When she reached the end she pushed the covers together and made to replace the book on the shelf: but as she stepped forwards, something fell from between the pages, landing on her foot with a quiet clicking sound.

Keiko slowly lifted the book up over her head and peered down at her foot.

"Library closes in five minutes, everybody get your things and get out!"

Keiko put the book down on a nearby windowsill and crouched down to retrieve the item resting on the toe of her shoe.

"Come on, it's Saturday night, I'm sure we all have better things to do – even you, Hiro!"

Keiko carefully picked up the item, lifting it up in front of her face and twirling it around between her thumb and index finger. Presumably someone had been using it as a makeshift bookmark, and Keiko's first thought was that she wished she had noticed which page it had fallen from, as it had probably been marking a significant point, and she had probably just lost the one thing she had been looking for.

Keiko's second thought was that what she held appeared to be one of those silly pencils all the girls in her middle school classes had loved so much: a sparkling wooden pencil, topped with unrealistically brightly dyed feathers. Such pencils were no longer as easy to buy in shops as they had been several years earlier, and Keiko had never seen a student at the university using one – not even Maya. It was broken, only a short length of the pencil remaining, a length that was almost impractical to even hold to write with.

Keiko paused. She had been turning her found item over, and as she sighted something unusual about it, she literally froze, her mind going blank, at a loss to explain what she was seeing.

There was no lead in the pencil, and no hole where there might ever have been a lead.

Keiko slowly stood up.

The feathers were bound to the shattered stub of wood by some kind of odd tape, which was hardly pretty to look at. In fact, it looked as though the feathers had been stuck on hastily, almost as an afterthought; not to mention the fact that the feathers were short and rigid, more like feathers from a wing rather than the long, soft, downy body feathers usually dyed and attached to the pencils Keiko had initially mistaken the item for.

"Everybody out! You too, Miss Reference Books!"

Keiko stuffed the item into her jeans pocket and casually left the library, rolling her eyes as the librarian hurried her along. Once she was outside, she started along the paved pathway back towards her dormitory. Alone on journey back – as it was a holiday weekend – she withdrew her find to study it as she walked. She had no idea what it could possibly be, but she was certain that it must belong to Maya. The thought did occur to her that it may be some sort of conduit for spiritual energy, a possibility particularly likely as she had found it in the book about spirituality.

Keiko stopped walking, and turned her head to look up at the windows of the dormitory above her. The sun was setting and the warmth of the summer day was fading, and, unsurprisingly as most students had left campus for the long weekend, none of the windows overhead were lit up.

Except one.

Keiko was standing on a section of the path that fell almost directly under the rectangle of light shining down from a window one floor higher than and one wing over from Keiko's own room. The fact that someone else was present was not entirely unusual In itself, but the fact that the window of the room was wide open, one curtain spilling out, seemed odd.

It was Maya's room.

Keiko stuffed the item back into her pocket and marched onwards with purpose. She had considered confronting Maya before, but now felt justified in doing so. Keiko only saw two other students on her way up to Maya's room, and felt fully empowered and ready to confront the girl right up until she came into line of sight of Maya's room door.

The door was open.

Keiko called out an experimental "hello" as she slowed her pace, peering into the open doorway. The room inside was a mess – the extreme opposite of the condition of Kurama's room – with the overhead and both of the two desk lights switched on, the bedding ruffled and partially hanging off the bed, the noticeboard on the wall covered with haphazardly pinned up photographs and notes, and papers and unusual items lying all over the desk and floor. Keiko crept into the room, the feeling that Maya could not be far away playing on her mind. She quickly pushed open the partially open closet door to assure herself that nobody was hiding in there, ready to pounce on her, before readying herself to leave.

But, just as she lifted her foot to back out of the room, Keiko was stopped as she saw her own face looking back at her.

She stepped onto open books, splayed papers and a spilled pack of pens without regard as she approached the wall-mounted noticeboard, her jaw slowly opening as she realised that the photographs were all of her, Kurama and Kuwabara. Some of the photos were blank photos of the sky, but the majority of them showed Keiko, Kurama and Kuwabara, and they were all taken from some distance away.

Keiko narrowed her eyes angrily, thinking to herself that she had been concerned that her behaviour may be considered stalking, and yet apparently Maya had been stalking her and her friends for some time: some of the photos had been taken several months earlier, in the winter. Just as Keiko's anger was starting to really rise, she was suddenly shocked out of it as the room door loudly slammed shut.

Keiko ran to the door, almost falling on the mess at her feet, and grabbed the door handle, deciding that she just wanted to get away, something was clearly very wrong, and she needed back-up before she pushed the matter any further.

But the room door was locked.

Keiko slowly backed away from the door, yelping as all three lights in the room went out, plunging her into darkness.

It was then, in the darkened room, that Keiko saw the shadow over the door ahead of her.

There was something outside the open window.

Keiko gulped quietly and then, with shaking hands and shuddering breath, turned around.

A shadowy, inhuman figure was hovering in the air just outside the window, glaring in at her.

And suddenly Keiko knew exactly what the object she had recovered in the library was.

* * *

"Would you like some more cream with that?"

Yusuke nodded and waved a hand at his plate.

"It's just so nice to see you again, Yusuke," Mrs Yukimura said as she spooned more whipped cream onto Yusuke's plate. "It's such a pity Keiko is away this weekend: but I'm so glad you came to visit us while you're in town."

Yusuke smiled at her, deciding against telling her that she and her husband had literally been his last choice of company that night. After Hiei's snide comments about Keiko and Kurama, Yusuke had set out to find either party, and had no luck. He had tried Kuwabara's house, but found only Mister Kuwabara at home (Kuwabara, Shizuru and Yukina were all out) and he had tried Kurama's mother's house, where Shiori had kindly told him that her son was spending the weekend at university studying: which was also not true, as Yusuke had already tried looking for Kurama (and Keiko) at their university. Or rather, he had gone there, realised he had no idea which room any of his friends stayed in, tried very loudly calling Kuwabara, Kurama and Keiko by name, got no response from any of them, and so had given up. He had tried visiting his own mother, but found her preoccupied helping out a neighbour who had just had a baby, and, not wanting any part of that, Yusuke had, as a very last resort, gone to get some dessert from Keiko's parents. They had offered him dinner, but he had still felt quite satisfied after eating a free meal he had picked up back in Demon World.

"You look so well, Yusuke," Mrs Yukimura cooed as she sat down beside him.

"Yeah, I'm great," he replied. "How's Keiko?"

"Oh she's doing very well too," Keiko's mother replied. "She's been doing well in her studies, she still sees a lot of those lovely girls Shizuru, Yukina and Botan, and sometimes she gets invited to dinner parties with the Minamino family."

Yusuke frowned, a spoonful of cake and cream still in his mouth, as his brain took a moment to register who the Minamino family were.

"Keiko goes to dinner with Kurama?" he asked through a mouthful of cake.

"What was that?"

Yusuke realised then that, of course, Keiko's mother would not know Kurama as Kurama, but rather by his human name Shuichi: but the very fact that Keiko's mother knew him at all was irritating enough, as it only served to remind Yusuke of everything Botan and Hiei had said to him that day. He chewed through the cake and swallowed, turning to Mrs Yukimura, small lumps of cream hanging from the corners of his mouth.

"Keiko hangs out with Shuichi Minamino?" he asked. "Alone?"

"Ha ha, are you jealous, Yusuke?" Keiko's father called through to him. "He's a really pretty one, that Shuichi!"

"You thought he was a girl the first time he came in here!" Keiko's mother called back to him.

"Some girls like that look in a man," Mister Yukimura called back to her.

Yusuke clenched his fists and gritted his teeth: there was no possible way Keiko's parents were in on a joke that he suspected Hiei and Botan were playing on him, and the fact that her parents even knew who Kurama was seemed to be sign enough that Keiko had indeed been spending more time with him.

Maybe Botan and Hiei had been right after all: maybe Keiko did prefer Kurama to him now. Maybe she had forgotten about him since he had relocate to Demon World. She had sometimes threatened that she would forget him if he left the human world, that she would move on and find someone else to give her affections to, and apparently that was exactly what she had done.

Yusuke decided that, as soon as he had finished eating, he was going back to Demon World. As much as he was still angry with Hiei, he was starting to understand why the emiko was always so desperate to get back there: at least things were simple in Demon World.

* * *

Things were very complicated in Demon World, and being there again, after so long away from the place, made Yukina really appreciate how much she enjoyed her life in the human realm.

"I don't understand," she said.

"You don't understand because you are a dirty whore, like your mother Hina, and you are a dirty traitor, guilty of a great treason against your own people, just like that heathen Matsurika."

Yukina gulped, her eyes intensely watching the leader of the ice village pace back and forth ahead of her. Yukina was on her knees, her hands bound together at the small of her back, and the council of village elders were standing in a semi-circle behind her.

"Please, I really don't understand," she tried. "I received a message that Miss Rui needed me here, that is the only reason I returned, I swear!"

"I sent that message!" the leader snapped, glaring at Yukina as she paced by her again.

Yukina was still confused.

"I knew that if I outright called for you to be brought here on charges of treason, those dirty humans and men you have aligned yourself with would try to interfere," the leader explained. "But I knew that you would come running if you thought your silly old friend Rui was in trouble."

"Where is Miss Rui?" Yukina dared to ask. "It seemed like everyone in the entire village was gathered in the square when I arrived, like they were expecting me, but I didn't see Miss Rui."

Yukina waited for a response, watching the leader's back as she paced away from her. When no answer came, Yukina's demon heart gave a beat – something that only ever happened with extremes of emotion – and her mouth became dry. The leader turned around, and the wicked grin on her face created a shivering chill of dread that crawled over the length of Yukina's body.

"Rui is exactly where she deserves to be, for hiding Hina's indiscretions and for defending your treachery."

Yukina shook her head violently, her hair flying about at the back of her head.

"No," she said. "Oh please, no!"

The leader stopped in front of Yukina.

"Don't worry child," she said quietly. "You'll be joining her there soon enough."

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Seemingly alone, Kuwabara calls on Hiei yet again for help. Hiei arrives, but so does Botan, and so also does an unexpected guest that appears to have an interest in Botan. Hiei confronts Botan about it, and they have a very enlightening heart-to-heart. **Chapter 8a: Weapon of Choice.**


	8. Weapon of Choice

**Chapter 8a: Weapon of Choice**

Kuwabara was desperate, and, again, for the third time in as many days, he found himself calling Hiei for help. As the communicator chirruped, as he waited for Hiei to answer, he was painfully aware that the sun was rising outside for a glorious Sunday morning: but Kuwabara felt anything but sunny that day. Shizuru was still being detained in Spirit World, and Yukina had gone missing. Kuwabara had been up all night calling and looking for anyone and everyone. He had looked for Yusuke, only to find that his old school friend had been in the living world earlier that night, but had since disappeared. He had tried to call Yusuke, and received no response. He had tried, again, looking for Kurama: at his mother's house, at the university, and even at the botanical gardens. He had tried calling Kurama's mobile phone, but it appeared to have lost charge, and Kurama was still not answering his communicator. He had tried looking for Keiko, especially when he had gone to her parents' house in search of Yusuke and they had said they thought she was still at the sleepover with the other girls. He looked everywhere and again tried calling her, but found no trace of her, and his calls went unanswered. He had tried looking for and calling Botan, but she had vanished and even she was not answering his calls.

Kuwabara had then tried calling Koenma: and even the Prince of Spirit World was not answering him.

"I told you before, you buffoon, do not call me about trivial–"

"Hiei, wait, it's about Yukina!"

Hiei's face in the communication mirror looked slightly less irate upon this revelation. Kuwabara paused as he considered how happy he was that someone had answered his calls, so happy that he did not even care that it was grumpy, pixie-faced Hiei.

"She's gone missing, and I can't find anyone else either, and I'm worried Yukina is in danger," he continued. "I keep getting this feeling of a deep sadness and despair, and I think it's coming from Yukina, I think she's in a really bad place, and I need your freaky eye to find her!"

"Where are you right now?"

"I'm at my dad's house–"

"Where Yukina stays?"

"Yeah, and–"

Kuwabara pouted as the little screen went blank. It was almost as though Hiei enjoyed hanging up on him, mid-sentence.

"See how he likes it when I hang up on him some time..." Kuwabara grumbled aloud, shoving the communicator back into his pants pocket and making his way outside.

Outside the street looked quite calm and pretty in the long shadows and muted light of dawn, but, without Yukina, Kuwabara could not appreciate it. Instead, he paced up and down the garden path, wondering how long Hiei would take to arrive, worrying that Hiei might not actually arrive at all, and feeling vaguely irritated by the faint hint of something sinister nearby. He could not quite make out what it was, but it was very weak, and appeared to be at least twenty feet in the air, so it was probably just the lost soul of a newly departed human life. It had probably come to his house – as lost souls so often did – to reach out to him: but he had bigger problems to worry about right then.

Just as he was considering shouting out to the presence, to tell it to leave, Kuwabara spotted Botan flying towards him. She looked cheerful, as though she had no clue how bad things were, as she started her descent towards him. He moved out onto the street to greet her, finding it vaguely odd that she slid off her oar while she was still about four feet in the air to drop down to the ground, and let the oar fall to the road behind her. Her oar did vanish a second later, but that was not her usual method of disembarking it, and yet Kuwabara had noticed her doing so several times lately.

"Botan, where have you been?" he yelled at her, the chipper look on her face only irritating him.

"Silly, I went to Spirit World, to plead your sister's release, remember?" she replied, her tone and expression still implying she had little to no idea about what was going on. "You were the one who disappeared! I went to look for you, to tell you Spirit World would not release Shizuru, but you had already left!"

"Yukina's gone, Botan! Where is she?" Kuwabara demanded.

"Yukina? I left her visiting Shizuru."

"Yeah, well now she's gone! Koenma said she'd gone home, but she isn't anywhere around here, and I can't find her! I can't even feel her! And I can't reach anyone else – the only person who's answering my calls is Hiei!"

"Oh, well, Hiei is, of course, always there when we need him the most. That's one of his great qualities I like best of all."

Kuwabara's face dropped, and the smug look Botan maintained did nothing to ease his irritation. She was seriously underestimating the gravity of Yukina's disappearance and Shizuru's arrest, and instead continually harping on about her supposed romantic relationship with the grumpy chipmunk.

"Alright then, let me go back to Spirit World and ask around there," she eventually offered. "I will try to find out if there was a mistake made, if Yukina is actually still there."

"Well hurry up about it!" Kuwabara ordered her.

She sighed and summoned her oar again, leaping onto it and taking off over a large tree in the front corner of the Kuwabaras' garden. Kuwabara watched her go, and, before she was even fully out of sight, he felt Hiei approaching, which was strangely a relief to him. It was not often that he was glad to see Hiei, but this was about to be one of those rare occasions.

"Hey, your girlfriend was just here," Kuwabara said sarcastically as Hiei phased into sight, standing where Botan had been moments earlier.

His beady red eyes were looking up and to one side, in the approximate direction Botan had left in.

"Yeah, she's gone again already," Kuwabara added.

"That thing was here again," Hiei said, moving his eyes to fix them onto Kuwabara. "You really should deal with it, there is no excuse for you not to. You are this world's strongest resident, and you have a duty to keep pests like that at bay. It was at Genkai's when Yukina was there, and now it has come here, to where Yukina usually lives: if I sense it in Yukina's presence one more time, I will take care of you, do you understand?"

Kuwabara scrunched up his face.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"The partner that keeps loitering," Hiei darkly replied.

"You mean... Your partner?" Kuwabara asked, confusion finally overtaking any other emotion he had been experiencing that morning. "Are you talking about Botan?"

"No, idiot!" Hiei spat. "I'm talking about the partner class demon that keep lingering around Yukina!"

"I don't know what you're talking about! And what the heck is a "partner class demon"?"

"It's a demon that gets its strength by partnering with another demon. It is basically a slave of a more dangerous creature. A messenger, an assistant, a spy."

Hiei and Kuwabara both narrowed their eyes at each other, though for different reasons.

"I'm going after it," Hiei concluded. "You wait here. I will capture it, torture it until it confesses why it is following Yukina, and then I will return here and we can continue."

"So you expect me to just sit around here while you go chasing after some weak little demon bug?" Kuwabara asked.

"So you do know what I'm talking about?" Hiei sneered.

"Well I guess so, but–"

"Go inside and prepare some food for my return."

"What?"

"I'm hungry, make sure there is hot food waiting for me when I return."

"Hey! I'm not your wife!"

"Shut-up and get back in the kitchen!"

"Hey!"

Hiei shot out of sight.

"Hey!" Kuwabara hollered after him. "Get back here you cheeky little mouse! I'm not cooking for you!"

* * *

Hiei was not entirely surprised that he could not trust Kuwabara to take care of the pesky little menace hanging around the living world, but he was a little disappointed that the human oaf had not taken more interest in driving away something that was consistently showing up wherever Yukina went. Hiei could not tell exactly what sort of creature it was – and he would not dignify it with the waste of effort involved with using his Jagan Eye to look ahead to see it – but whatever it was, it could fly, and it moved very fast. After it had left Kuwabara's house, it had gone some distance before stopping, and, with the head-start it had had on him, Hiei reluctantly admitted to himself that, had it kept moving, he never would have caught it. He was still faster than it, but not by much, and as it could fly, it would likely always escape him unless he caught it unaware.

The demon had taken itself to the roof of a very high building in a very densely populated and bustling part of the Sarayashiki city, which was hardly enjoyable for Hiei. He stopped in an alleyway opposite the building, looking out over streets that, despite the early hour of the day, were already filling up with people and cars, and up the length of a building with mirrored windows. Within seconds of him taking that stance, Hiei saw a shadowy shape take flight, any details of it obscured from his sight. The shadow shot across the sky and out of sight in an instant, moving far too fast for a human eye to track it.

And, a moment later, Botan rose up from the building, atop her oar.

She turned to move in another direction, left of Hiei. She was so high up, he had no way of getting her attention, short of following her at ground level and hoping that she flew low enough for him to shout up to her. Suspecting that might never happen, that she was likely to just ascend even further into the sky and return to Spirit World, Hiei tried to reach her telepathically. He had so often called out to her by that method in the past, he could link to her mind without even any need to concentrate on the task: but when he did so, Hiei was confused by what he found.

Botan was gone.

Hiei squinted up at the ferry girl, in her pink kimono, her blue ponytail flapping about in the air behind her as she started away from the building. He tried again, but again he got nothing.

It was like he was trying to reach someone who had died or no longer existed.

The only possible explanation was that she had been secretly training and learned how to block him from reaching out to her, and so Hiei begrudgingly retrieved his communication mirror and tried to call her on it.

When she did not answer her communicator, Hiei decided that she was ignoring him intentionally, and he took off after her, driven as much by his frustration with her as he was his anger at the pest she had apparently just encountered. By chance, she was flying slower than she usually would, and he caught up to her quite quickly, slowing his pace to match hers, running along in her shadow. After some time, well beyond the city limits, in the middle of a strawberry field, she finally descended to his level, flying alongside him with an obnoxious smile before he finally stopped to glower at her. She leapt from her oar, which fell to the ground behind her, and she approached him with one of her typical, stupid looks on her face.

"Hiei!" she said. "I didn't expect to see you here!"

"I don't want to be here," he quickly replied. "But Kuwabara called me. He said Yukina has gone missing."

"Oh, he is silly!" Botan replied with a dismissive wave of her kimono-covered hand. "Yukina is still in Spirit World! She went there to visit Shizuru. Koenma had to take Shizuru to Spirit World to talk to her about something."

Hiei was not entirely convinced that the situation was as simple as Botan was making it sound, but he decided to shift tack, to address his other concern.

"What was that thing you were meeting with back there?" he asked her. "On the roof of that building. I saw it, so don't try to deny it."

Botan's face dropped, her eyes growing large and searching his as though she was lost somehow.

"I don't know," she said quietly. "That thing it... It called me out back at Genkai's place, and it keeps... It keeps following me. I'm scared Hiei, I don't know what to do! I don't know what it wants from me!"

Hiei twitched, losing some of his momentum at the unexpected response he was getting from the ferry girl.

"Koenma arrested Shizuru because he said he thought she was calling that thing here," Botan continued. "But it keeps coming back! I don't know what it wants from me! It makes me so nervous! I tried to... I tried to appease it, but..."

"What do you mean "appease it"?" Hiei asked, taking a step towards her. "What did you do for it?"

"It told me to give it my communication mirror," Botan replied. "So I did. And I can't ask Koenma for another, he will be most cross that I gave it away like that!"

"What else?" Hiei asked.

"Nothing! I swear to you, Hiei!"

"You didn't... It didn't... You're been acting very... Brazen, lately... Is that related to this...?"

Botan eyes widened again.

"Oh, well, I suppose, in a small way, it was," she admitted. "I felt so exposed with that thing always chasing after me. I felt as though it was singling me out. Shizuru is strong enough to take care of herself, Yukina has Kuwabara – and you – to protect her, Keiko has Yusuke, but I have no-one. I thought about how protective and kind you are towards Yukina, and I just thought that maybe if I got closer to you, you would look after me too."

Hiei closed his eyes and sighed.

"Well that makes a lot more sense," he admitted.

"What does?" Botan asked.

Hiei opened his eyes to look directly at her again.

"I knew there had to be a reason for why you were... Flirting with me," he managed to make himself say.

"Well, Hiei, maybe it wasn't so much the reason why I was flirting with you as it was a good excuse for me to flirt with you..."

Hiei frowned, unsure whether she was making an honest confession or again flirting with him to gain his services as a bodyguard against a minor pest.

"I mean, after all, everything I said to you was true, Hiei," she said, lowering her eyes to the ground, her hands coming up to her chin in a meek manner. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't attracted to you."

Hiei did not answer her, deciding to just let her continue, in the hope that she would say something more concrete, something that either proved she was still playing with him or alluded to her confessing an honest truth.

"I know you don't really care for me because I'm a ferry girl," she continued. "But for what it's worth, I don't really think about the fact that we come from different worlds. I just like you for who you are and what you are."

Hiei intended to stay quiet and let her continue, but he found himself sliding a step closer to her. She kept her head down, and, when she spoke again, her voice sounded as vulnerable and submissive as her stance looked.

"I think you're very attractive, and so strong, and noble. I often wish you really were my lover. I see how sweet and attentive you are of Yukina, and I wish you would be that way with me."

Hiei closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"You said yourself, we are from two different worlds," he said, opening his eyes again, but looking down as he spoke. "Even if we wanted to, nothing could ever be between us."

"I don't know about that, Hiei," Botan replied. "When Koenma assigned me to assist Yusuke in his role as Spirit Detective, he had to backfill my role as a ferry girl. When Yusuke was sacked, and Koenma decided against hiring a replacement, I was left with nothing to do but return to my role as a ferry girl – only my role had already been filled. There wasn't as much work for me – there hasn't been as much work for me – since. I often go for days doing nothing but... Well, honestly, nothing but thinking about you. I often wish I could go to Demon World with you. I've not had the chance to explore Demon World, outside of the small area I saw when Koenma, George and I visited to attend the Demon World Tournament. I would dearly love to see more. Yusuke offered to show me around, but I want to see the Demon World you talk of, Hiei. I want to explore it with you, to see it through your eyes."

"Do you mean that?"

Hiei could hardly believe he was even asking the question, but he did want to know the answer. She nodded her head and again, Hiei found himself moving a step closer to her. She finally started to lift her head, her eyes wandering up the length of his body until they found his, and there she offered him a small smile.

"I was too shy to tell you," she said softly. "I didn't think you would want me, a girl from Spirit World..."

Hiei said nothing, but no longer because he doubted Botan's intentions, but rather because he did not really know what to say to her. It was not like he had ever found himself in the situation he was suddenly in: being outcast by his own people and raised by a gang who taught him he was only as good as his last kill, Hiei had never exactly planned for or expected to find any sort of positive relationships in his life. He had struggled enough to come to terms with making friends – first with Kurama, then Yusuke, and then Mukuro. He struggled enough when he thought about how things might change if Yukina ever found out that he was the brother she sought: would she expect him to hug her? It was not that he had never had a physical desire to be with anyone else intimately, but he had just assumed it would never happen, and so written off the idea entirely.

He had certainly never expected that if anyone would ever show an interest in having that sort of relationship with him, it would be a ferry girl from Spirit World.

"Yukina is definitely safe?" he eventually asked.

Botan nodded her head.

"In that case, we should stay in the human world," he concluded. "You and I. If that thing keeps coming for you in this world, let it try to come for you again. This time, I will be with you, waiting for it."

Botan smiled at him.

"Oh, thank you, Hiei!" she said.

He nodded his head and waved a hand at her.

"Get your oar, we'll go to Genkai's temple, since that thing likes going there," he said.

Botan nodded enthusiastically, and summoned her oar. Hiei was not really sure why he was taking her where he was and he was not really sure what would happen once they got there: but he did know that time alone with her in such a remote place, in a neutral world that was neither his nor hers, would allow him to really assess whether there could be something more between them in the future.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Since Hiei fails to turn up for that meal he made especially for him (XD), Kuwabara finally tracks down Yusuke to help him. They discover Yukina has gone back to the ice village. On their way there, an informant takes a shine to Kuwabara and Yusuke starts hearing voices... **Chapter 9a: My Love**

 **A/N:** This chapter and the next overlap greatly with the B chapters, and reading the A chapter alone this just seems like the story is rolling along, but I legit struggled emotionally with chapter 9b. We are now about halfway through the A story, and from chapters 9a/10a the story sort of takes a turn, and the pacing changes a bit (since the gang are now very split up, and there are now several different storylines I need to bring back together – Maya/Kurama/Keiko; Yukina/Rui/ice village; Yusuke/Kuwabara/(Puu); Shizuru/Spirit World prison; Koenma/SDF/Spirit World border expansion; Hiei/Botan – and that's just what's going on in the A story...).


	9. My Love

**Chapter 9a: My Love**

Kuwabara sat low in his seat, his arms folded, watching his father eat the dinner he had prepared.

"This is a little spicier than I would usually like," his father casually commented.

The meal had not, of course, been intended for his father, but since Hiei had failed to return, Kuwabara was instead watching his father eat the meal he had been so careful to prepare. At first, he had thought that feeding the meal to his father instead of Hiei was an act of revenge on the moody little fire demon for standing him up: but, the longer he watched, the more he felt that Hiei was the one who had really made a fool of him, since he had made Kuwabara waste the day buying ingredients he knew Hiei would eat, then preparing a very specific meal, just to have to it essentially go to waste.

"I'm going out," he muttered, rising from the table.

"Remember not to bother your sister or Yukina on their little getaway."

Kuwabara would usually have moaned that he was not about to do exactly that – even though every time the girls had one of their weekends away, he usually did do exactly that – but, under the circumstances, he could not bring himself to say anything at all. Hearing his father speak so casually about it, after all, was a painful reminder that he had no idea about the situation his daughter was in, and no idea that Yukina had gone missing.

"Yeah, I'll see you later," Kuwabara said instead, before heading outside, and once more taking out his communication mirror and trying to reach Koenma.

The communicator rang for some time, and, just as he was about to give up, suddenly a face appeared on the screen: though it was not the face he had expected to see.

"Hey, you…" Kuwabara said awkwardly.

"Um, hi," the nervous blue ogre on the screen replied. "Uh, Lord Koenma is very busy right now, and can't take your call."

"That's okay, it's not him I need to speak to anyway," Kuwabara replied, recovering from his initial surprise and remembering that the ogre he was now talking to was the same one who had reported Yukina's departure from Spirit World to him. "I can't find Yukina. Where did she go after she left Spirit World?"

"She went home," he replied.

"I'm at home, and she's not here. Where is she?"

"She went home. We received a message from the leader of the ice village, telling us one of Miss Yukina's friends was very ill, and she should go home to visit her, and so she went home. Miss Ayame took her there."

Kuwabara felt a sinking sensation weighing down his chest.

"Yukina… Went back to… The ice village?" he asked.

"Yes," the ogre confirmed.

"The ice village in Demon World?" Kuwabara asked.

"Is there another ice village?"

Kuwabara could not tell if the ogre was mocking him or not, but as he had already heard all he needed to, and was growing irritated that the ogre had not told him exactly where Yukina had gone the first time around, he instead simply hung up on him and began trying to call the one person he trusted to know exactly where and how to find the ice village. However, once again, Kurama did not answer his call, and so, since Hiei was out chasing after something pointless, Kuwabara tried Yusuke, surprised when, after just two rings, his call was answered.

"Hey Kuwabara," Yusuke flatly greeted him.

"Oh hey Urameshi, I need your help," Kuwabara immediately replied.

"We all know you need help buddy, I'm just not sure I'm the guy you're looking for," Yusuke replied with a hint of a smirk.

"This is serious, Urameshi!" Kuwabara argued.

"Okay, keep your shirt on. What's up?"

"Yukina has gone back to the ice village, and I have to find her."

"…What?"

"Yukina has gone back to the–"

"Hey, don't shout, I heard what you said, I just don't get it. Why would she do that?"

"Spirit World said she went because her friend is sick, but, I dunno, I just have a really bad feeling about it. Yukina told me she wouldn't ever go back there, she said her people wouldn't welcome her back. And I can't sense where she is right now."

"Well if you can't sense where she is, that means she's probably in the ice village. Nobody knows where it is and nobody can reach it – not even with their "love radar" or "red thread of fate" – it's really heavily protected."

"But I need to get to Yukina! It's not right that she would leave like that without telling anyone – I'm telling you Urameshi, something isn't right!"

Yusuke sighed.

"Okay, fine, come to Demon World, and we'll go find her," he said. "You know how to get to my place, right?"

"Yeah," Kuwabara replied.

"Then get here and let's do this."

Kuwabara and Yusuke ended the call and, after checking that nobody was watching him, Kuwabara summoned his spirit sword and cut himself a path to Yusuke's location in Demon World. At first, upon his arrival, Kuwabara was relieved that someone had finally responded to his calls and that Yusuke seemed to be in a helpful mood, but he soon found himself feeling more concerned and anxious than ever as he started to walk within Demon World, and he was reminded just how dark, dangerous and intense a place it was. It was no sort of place for Yukina to be in on her own, and he hoped that she had made it safely to her home, and not been taken away by some nasty demon, hidden in a concealed prison somewhere.

"Okay, I have no idea where the ice village is," Yusuke admitted as he walked over to meet Kuwabara outside his tower. "But I do know someone who might be able to help us find it. If you can handle the run – I mean, if you can keep up with me – about two hours from here there's another city. We call it scum city, because it's full of scum. There's a girl there who can get information on just about anything, and if anyone can find out where the ice village is for us, it's her."

"I was gonna ask Hiei, but he ran off," Kuwabara said.

"Forget Hiei, he's been acting like an asshole lately," Yusuke replied.

"Hiei always acts that way."

"No, this is different. He's been acting different, ever since that dumb sleepover the girls were supposed to have."

"Yeah, Botan and Keiko have been acting weird since then too."

"Botan's been acting like an asshole lately too."

"Maybe it's because she's dating Hiei now."

Yusuke gave Kuwabara a dismissive look, but Kuwabara was not really sure why.

"What?" he asked.

"Forget it, let's go," Yusuke replied.

Together they set off, and although neither spoke along the way, Kuwabara could not escape the growing feeling of anxiety about what lay ahead of them.

* * *

Yusuke cursed and kicked at a stone in the street. Hokushin had often pointed out the weird, purple-haired girl in the little wooden hut to him before, and although he had never really cared about her, she had always been there when they had passed: it was almost ironic that the one time he did want to see her, she was gone, her hut closed up. He turned to tell Kuwabara that they might have to call Hiei after all, but when he did so, he found his friend standing several steps behind him, his jaw hanging open, his eyes wide as he took in his surroundings.

"Yeah, welcome to scum city, man," Yusuke said to him.

"Those apartments don't even have real windows!" Kuwabara loudly replied – a little too loudly, drawing unwanted attention in his direction – and pointing shamelessly at a large, brown building with literal holes for windows and doors.

"The girl we came here to see isn't here right now," Yusuke said to him. "Maybe we should… Kuwabara?"

Yusuke frowned as Kuwabara's face suddenly neutralised and his head turned to one side, as though something had caught his attention. Yusuke followed the direction he was looking, finding the odd girl who usually stood inside the wooden hut approaching them. If she took herself to the living world, she would be mistaken for a failed art student who had become homeless: she always had a dreamy look on her face and she was always dressed in ragged – yet oddly stylish – clothes.

"Well hello boys," she said as she drew near Yusuke. "Are you looking for me?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact we were," Yusuke replied. "We need information, and I've been told you're the person to ask."

"Hi."

Yusuke and the girl turned to look at Kuwabara as he joined them. He was suddenly looking incredibly goofy – or rather, more goofy than usual – and his attention was fixed onto the girl.

"Hi," she answered him.

She glanced back and forth between them both before hiding a coquettish smile behind one hand.

"I'm sorry boys, I just got back from an appointment, and I have another soon," she said. "There's a limit to how many I can fit into each day."

Yusuke's face dropped, as he, unlike Kuwabara, immediately understood her meaning.

"We won't take much of your time, I promise!" Kuwabara answered her. "We'll be super quick, I promise!"

The girl smirked and wiggled her eyebrows at Yusuke.

"Kuwabara, shut-up and let me do the talking, okay?" he muttered to his friend.

Yusuke could tell by the look on Kuwabara's face that he still failed to understand the situation, which would be embarrassing even if it happened in the human world.

"Look lady, we need information, and I've heard you give things away for free," he began.

"Not quite," she replied, eying him over, her demeanour suddenly changed. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"I'm Yusuke Urameshi, I'm Raizen's great-great-great… He was sort of my father," Yusuke replied.

"Well, son of Raizen, if that's true, you're certainly not short of a penny or two, so for you, there definitely will be a charge," she replied.

"How much?"

To Yusuke's utter horror, she moved her eyes to Kuwabara, twirling her hair around one finger as she eyed him over.

"I like your friend," she concluded, turning back to Yusuke. "He's cute – in a naïve and humble sort of way – maybe I'll trade you for him."

Yusuke looked at Kuwabara, who immediately flew into a panic.

"Urameshi!" he yelped. "You can't sell me like I'm your old bike!"

"Interesting choice of words, considering she's basically asking if she can ride you…" Yusuke muttered.

"Huh?" Kuwabara echoed.

Yusuke shook his head.

"My friend isn't for sale, lady," he told the girl.

"That's too bad," she said, pulling an overly sad face for effect. "How about you tell me what it is that you want, and then we can agree a price that suits us both?"

"Alright fine," Yusuke agreed. "I need to know how to get to the ice village."

Her face darkened again.

"That information is not for sale," she said quietly. "Not to anyone and not for any price."

Yusuke matched her expression.

"Well how about I just beat the answer out of you?" he tried.

"Nobody knows where the ice village is," she calmly replied. "What makes you think a poor street merchant like me would know?"

"Because you just admitted that you did," Yusuke pointed out. "You said "that information is not for sale" and not "hey, I don't know where the hell it is", so you do know."

She faltered slightly and Yusuke smiled smugly, looking over at Kuwabara.

"Kurama taught me that," he said.

Kuwabara still looked confused and so Yusuke turned his attention back to the girl before him.

"Two men like you will not be welcomed there," she warned. "The ice maidens hate and fear men. The blizzards and landscape surrounding the village are so harsh, few can survive them. Many who have tried to journey there, even knowing the exact location, have perished long before they even got close."

"If Hiei did it right after his little forehead operation, I'm pretty sure we can too," Yusuke muttered.

"They will see you coming and make the approach even more treacherous," the girl continued. "If you really are the son of Raizen, you ought to be wealthy enough that you don't need the hiruiseki they can generate, so why would you go there? And if you do need the money, why don't you just sell your handsome human friend here?"

"Handsome?" Yusuke blurted out before he could stop himself.

"I guess she recognises my rugged manliness Urameshi," Kuwabara said, looking and sounding far too smug.

"He's not for sale, keep your panties on," Yusuke spat at the girl before him. "Just tell us where the ice village is already!"

"I must ask for payment for this information," she replied.

"Okay, you can have Kuwabara," Yusuke sarcastically replied.

"No, I seek a higher price," she replied. "I will tell you what you want to know if you tell me why you are going there – and you must be honest, I will know if you lie to me."

"That's easy!" Kuwabara said cheerfully. "My love Yukina is there, and we're going to make sure she's okay."

To Yusuke's surprise, the woman in front of him suddenly looked horrified.

"Who is Yukina?" she asked.

"She's an ice maiden we know," Yusuke replied.

"You know an actual ice maiden?" the girl asked.

"Yeah, she's my girlfriend!" Kuwabara proudly replied.

The girl glared at him until he started to lose some of his inflated enthusiasm.

"This Yukina, she left the ice village for a new life elsewhere?" she asked, turning to Yusuke.

"Yeah, she stays with Kuwabara, but she went back home recently."

Yusuke had barely finished speaking before the girl slapped him across the face.

"What the hell was that for?" he snapped at her.

"You idiot!" she shouted back at him.

"You're the idiot!" Yusuke argued. "Start talking, or I'll be the one slapping you!"

"Uh, Urameshi?"

"Shut-up Kuwabara, stay out of this!"

"Urameshi!"

"I mean it Kuwabara, stay the hell –"

Yusuke stopped abruptly as he noticed what it was that Kuwabara was trying to warn him about: his argument with the girl, albeit brief, had garnered a lot of attention already, and several locals were starting to gather. None of them were any real threat, but they were numerous, and an inconvenient delay he could do without.

"An ice maiden who leaves the village to live with a man will never be allowed back!" the girl said. "Your friend Yukina, if she really has gone back, could be in great danger right now!"

The girl ducked around Yusuke and kicked open the side entrance to her hut, frantically grabbing up a piece of paper and a pen. She stomped back out, marching right up to Kuwabara, who finally looked more frightened of her than charmed by her.

"Turn around, big guy," she told him.

He glanced nervously at Yusuke, who nodded at him to do as she ordered, before turning around. The girl immediately began using his back as a table, resting the paper against him and drawing something.

"Get over here, slick," she snapped at Yusuke.

Yusuke casually moved over to join her at her side, casting a glance around the small crowd of locals watching on before focusing on her drawing.

"Son of Raizen, I assume you must know where the violet swamp is?" she asked him.

Yusuke shook his head.

"This isn't funny," she warned, pointing her pen at him. "That girl is in great danger – you clearly have no idea what fate awaits an ice maiden who leaves to be with a man and then tries to go back!"

"Take this seriously, Urameshi!" Kuwabara cried.

"Okay, but I've never heard of this dumb swamp, and I don't know how to find it!" Yusuke complained.

"Well the clue is in the name, smart-ass," the girl said in a low voice. "It's a giant swamp, and it's violet in colour."

"Oh, you mean the purple bog?" Yusuke asked.

She narrowed her eyes at him angrily, but he merely shrugged back at her.

"Nobody ever told me it had a name," he said.

"Go there," she said, pointing at the pond she had drawn on the page. "Head into the heart of the swamp, and you will find three paths: one moves uphill, take that one. You will climb out of the swamp, and through a regular forest, then through brush, scramble over rocks, and, when you start to see snow, you're almost there."

"Right, got ya," Yusuke said, reaching for the page. "Ow, damn it, you crazy bitch!" he snapped when she stabbed his hand with her pen.

"The snow gets very deep, and the blizzards and gales will overwhelm you," she warned. "Go prepared. And go fast!"

She then slapped the paper against his chest, glaring at him as though he had somehow wronged her personally.

"Gee thanks," he said, accepting her crude map. "Are we all square now, or should I give you ten minutes with Kuwabara?"

"Your payment to me will be the safe return of your friend Yukina – and I will know if you fail to rescue her."

"Right, because you know everything."

"That's right, I do."

Yusuke did not especially like the way the girl answered him – without hesitation and in a very serious, vaguely threatening tone – but as she had given him what he sought, he let it pass, and turned to Kuwabara,

"Come on man, let's go."

"Thanks, lady," Kuwabara said to the girl.

She nodded at him.

"Yukina's very lucky to have you," she said. "But your friend – the supposed son of Raizen – is a fool."

"Well that's true," Kuwabara said smirking at Yusuke.

"Let's just get outta here!" Yusuke insisted, pushing Kuwabara away from the girl.

They moved on, forced to weave their way through the crowd that had gathered to watch their argument with the strange girl. Once they were finally out the other side of the mob, Yusuke felt a hint of something familiar, and, on the very periphery of his vision, he saw a shadow race between two buildings. Yusuke stopped walking and put a hand on Kuwabara's arm, turning his head in the direction the shadow had disappeared.

"What was that?" Yusuke asked.

"It sounded like somebody just said your name," Kuwabara replied. "I don't like this place."

Yusuke had not heard anything, but he did not really care whether Kuwabara had or not: he was more concerned with the shadow he had just seen.

"It's that thing Botan was chasing," he said. "I think it's following me."

Kuwabara stepped closer to Yusuke, looking over in the direction he was looking.

"Huh, that's weird," Kuwabara commented. "I thought I could feel that thing that was on the roof of Genkai's temple the night all the girls went there – and it sort of also feels like that thing that was at my house earlier today."

Yusuke turned to him.

"What is it?" he asked.

Kuwabara turned to Yusuke with an incredulous look.

"What're you asking me for?" he whined. "You're the one who lives here – you tell me what it is!"

"You're the sensitive one – and you just said you saw it twice before!" Yusuke argued.

"I dunno what it is, Botan said it was just a bug," Kuwabara replied.

"It's not a bug, it's something much bigger than that."

"Urameshi, we don't have time for this! You heard what that pretty lady said, we have to get to the ice village, now!"

"Okay fine… And hey, I thought only Yukina was pretty enough for you these days…"

Yusuke and Kuwabara started to move on again.

"She wasn't as pretty as Yukina – no girl is – but she was still pretty cute," Kuwabara said.

"I've never heard you talk like that about another girl since Yukina came along," Yusuke said with a smile. "And she sure liked you…"

"I guess I'm just her type, like she's my type," Kuwabara smugly replied.

He was sounding a little too smug for Yusuke, who decided to burst his bubble.

"You know she was a prostitute, right?" he said. "She sells herself in exchange for rare items which she then sells for more than they're worth from her little hut. Or, if she likes someone enough, she trades the stuff for more sex."

Kuwabara looked suitably horrified, and so it was Yusuke's turn to look smug. They walked on like that for a little longer before Yusuke stopped abruptly.

"What is it?" Kuwabara asked him.

Yusuke looked back over his shoulder.

"I thought I heard someone calling my name," he muttered.

He turned fully around, surveying the street behind them. The crowd that had gathered was starting to disperse, but nowhere amongst it could he see anyone who appeared to be trying to get his attention, nor could he see a face that he recognised.

"I guess I just imagined it," he said. "Let's go."

"Right!"

Together, Yusuke and Kuwabara took off running, soon leaving the city once more, heading in the direction of the violet swamp.

* * *

 **Next Chapter** : Hiei and Botan are hanging out in the human world, but the mysterious partner demon doesn't show up – though neither of them struggle to fill the time they have together. Meanwhile, in the ice village, Rui tells Yukina something a little unusual. **Chapter 10a: Good Girl Gone Bad**


	10. Good Girl Gone Bad

**Chapter 10a: Good Girl Gone Bad**

Hiei was doing his best to feign sleep as he laid on his back on the roof of Genkai's temple, using his hands as a pillow, his legs bent up ahead of him. Despite his relaxed position, his eyes were fractionally open, peering to his right, where Botan was sitting silently reading her own notebook and occasionally added little scribbled notes as she went. She had a sort of smug smile on her face, which was maybe just because she knew that he was feigning sleep, but, in his mind, Hiei had built it up to be something more significant. The more her pink eyes roved over the pages, the more certain he became that she was reading something she had written in there about him.

"Do you write everything in there?" he eventually asked as curiosity got the better of him.

He kept his eyes almost fully shut, but he could still see enough to see the sly smile that appeared on her face with his question. She had also stopped writing, her stupid, sparkly pink pencil, with it's stupid big blue feather on top, hovering in the air over her page.

"What's the point in writing about things that have already happened?" Hiei added casually. "The past is the past."

"I don't just write about things that have already happened in here Hiei," Botan replied. "I also write about things that I would like to happen in the future."

"Nonsense," Hiei scoffed.

She shrugged and went back to wiggling her pencil over the pages and he had to suppress a growl of frustration as he failed to achieve the result he had sought.

"The future is what you make it," he tried. "There is not point in writing out lists or plans, you should just go out and make it happen."

"Oh, I see..."

She finally put down her stupid pencil and began turning the pages, though it remained to be seen if she would do what he actually wanted her to.

"Well here's one particular thing I wrote down," she said, stopping when she found the page she had been searching for. "Are you saying I should just go out and make this particular thing happen?"

"Yes," Hiei confidently replied.

"Maybe you should let me read it to you first, before you commit to that answer," Botan suggested.

"Do as you will."

"Alright."

Botan made a show of smoothing out the pages with her hands and Hiei was unable to stop himself from twitching in impatient irritation: he honestly could not tell whether she was just being her usual, ditzy, self, or whether she was intentionally, deviously teasing him, especially as she was prone to both extremes of character.

"I was on my way to Genkai's, running late to join the girls for one of our little weekend getaways."

"Not that one."

"It was the dead of winter, and, up on the hilltop where Genkai's temple stands, the snow was deep and the cold unbearable."

"I said not that one."

"When I got there though, nobody else had turned up, presumably because the weather had kept them away, and with the wind picking up, I couldn't fly away. I was forced to make preparations to spend the night alone there."

"I didn't ask you to read about the time your friends forgot about you."

"But I wasn't alone. Not long after I arrived and dug away the snow and finally managed to get inside the temple, I looked out the window, and noticed Hiei was in a nearby tree."

"That never happen–"

Hiei abruptly stopped himself, mid-word, and warily opened one eye to peer over at Botan, finding her smirking in a very self-satisfied manner. Ordinarily he would have scolded her for daring to laugh at him, but she kept her eyes on her stupid book and said nothing, and so he decided to let it go. He closed his eyes again and waited, already knowing that, without any prompting from him, she would eventually continue.

"I just assumed he was there because he thought Yukina would be at the temple, and he was watching over her, as he so often did," she finally continued. "It was so cold inside the temple. I lit the furnace to heat the living area and the water, and I set myself up ready to sleep in the living room. As soon as I was all set up, I began running the shower, waiting for the water to heat up. I thought a hot shower and then getting into my cosiest pyjamas and into my sleeping bag would help warm me up. Once the water was hot enough, I took off all my clothes and quickly jumped under the water. At first I just stood there, letting the water pour over me, because it was so warm and felt so good after the cold and difficult journey there. I was so lost in the feeling, I didn't feel or even hear that someone else had come into the room, and only realised Hiei was standing watching me in the shower when he spoke."

Hiei swallowed hard and crossed his legs as casually as he possibly could. Botan did pause as he did so, but he kept his eyes shut, neither wishing to see if she was smirking again nor wishing to give her any reason not to continue her oration.

""If you wanted something to warm you up, you should have just asked" he said. I was so shocked to see and hear him there, I gasped and turned towards him, at first completely forgetting that I must have looked quite a sight, completely naked and dripping wet."

For some reason, Botan stopped reading. Hiei waited for what he thought was a reasonable amount of time for her to start again – though given his current state of agitation, he accepted that was probably no more than three seconds – before opening his eyes and turning his head to fix her with a glare as threatening as he could muster in his current state.

"Hiei?" she asked, watching him through curious eyes. "Did you just… Did you just growl at me, Hiei?"

Hiei scoffed out a noise of dismissal.

"Don't be ridiculous," he said, closing his eyes and turning his head towards the sky again.

"Am I safe to continue reading?" she asked, her tone suddenly laden with implication.

"Do what you want, I don't care," he flatly answered her, despite caring a great deal about the matter.

"You're not going to jump up and bite me if I say something else provocative, are you Hiei?" she asked in the same, sultry tone of voice.

"Hn."

"Well alright then…"

She took in a deep breath and sighed before finally continuing her reading.

"It didn't even occur to me that he could see every part of my naked body, I was just so surprised to see him there. He smiled at me, in that lop-sided way he does, his head tilting down, a shadow falling over his eyes, and he started towards me. As he stepped into the shower with me, I suddenly realised what was really happening: but honestly, I didn't care. He reached past me and switched off the water with one hand, his other hand touching my hip. His skin was so warm against mine, and as he leaned over me to switch the water off, I could feel his breath on my neck. He didn't step away after his switched off the water, instead he moved his hand into my hair and pulled my head back, sliding his other hand from my hip down over my – Hiei?"

Hiei had started to move away, with the idea that he would tell Botan the excuse that he had seen something moving in the trees: but his plan came terribly unstuck when he lost his footing and slid down the roof, tripped over the guttering and fell into a leafy bush. He hurriedly hauled himself free of the plant, staggering out of it and racing away before Botan could ask him why he had suddenly become so clumsy.

However, after no more than twenty steps, Hiei stumbled to a halt.

He looked back over his shoulder, first at Botan's notebook, lying on the ground, then he looked up at the temple roof, where Botan was sitting, still where she had been when he had made his hasty departure.

He was momentarily stunned that she had had the strength, speed and dexterity to not only throw her book as far as she had – from a seated position, no less – but that she had managed to actually hit him.

"Where are you going, Hiei?" she called out to him in a pouty voice.

Hiei looked down at her notebook again, realising then that she had managed a similar feat recently, when she had somehow managed to throw a stick at him – and hit him – from the top of a tall tree as he ran away from her.

It was unusual, but, at that moment, a welcome distraction, as it redirected the energy in Hiei's body, and he was shortly able to face Botan without fear of her noticing just how affected he had been by her dirty little works of fiction she wrote in her notebook. He turned around to look directly back at her, an idea forming in his mind.

"Let's go," he said.

She tilted her head to one side.

"If you meant what you said, then let's just go," he said.

Botan stood up and gave him a look that implied she still did not understand.

"Get down here, pick up your dirty diary, and let's go," Hiei insisted.

Botan moved to the edge of the roof.

"Where should we go?" she asked. "I thought we were waiting here to catch that nasty little menace that has been hounding me so?"

"Forget about that thing," Hiei replied. "If it appears again, I will destroy it. We're leaving."

"Leaving for where?"

"I'm taking you home with me."

A look of delight briefly flashed over Botan's face, but she quickly tried to hide it behind a shy smile and a sleeve of her kimono.

"I'll show you Demon World through my eyes, if that's really what you want," he said.

She nodded vigorously and he turned around, waiting for her to pick up her book and join him before leaving the temple grounds, and leaving the living world altogether.

* * *

Yukina very slowly ran her eyes over every inch of her enclosure. One of the things she had been taught in the ice village, from a young age, was how to escape any sort of trap. As an ice maiden, she had been raised with the expectation that she would be kidnapped and detained at least once in her life, and that often her captors would be strong but incompetent, and so, as she had no combat ability, she had been taught to acquiesce, to let herself be imprisoned, and then to seek a way to escape as soon as she was left unguarded.

But of course, the same women who had taught her that logic were the ones also responsible for building the cage she now found herself detained in, and they had already anticipated that anyone contained within it would try to escape, and suitably made it impossible to both break out of or even break in to.

"Is it true?" she asked, lowering her eyes to her fellow captive.

Rui was facing Yukina, both women knelt down low. Rui looked immeasurably sad and hopeless – though she was prone to looking downtrodden even at the best of times.

"What they say about this cage?" Yukina pressed. "Is it true, Miss Rui?"

Rui barely moved, but she moved enough to give two slight, short, nods of her head. Yukina felt something prickly burrow down through her chest at the very idea.

"This is what happened to my mother, isn't it?" she asked, the question leaving her lips at the same moment that the idea of it occurred in her mind. "She didn't die of sadness over Hiei's death, she didn't die jumping from the same cliff he was thrown from, she was put in here and executed, wasn't she?"

Rui gave the same, very slight, affirmative response.

"I thought it was just here as a deterrent," Yukina admitted. "I never thought they would actually use it. It goes against everything they believe in. Using this makes them all hypocrites."

"I have only ever seen them use it once," Rui said, her voice barely a whisper.

"On my mother," Yukina said, not even bothering to pose her words as a question, since she already knew them to be true.

"Yes," Rui agreed. "It was… Slow and awful."

Yukina nodded her head before giving one last look around the cage she and Rui had been locked into. Just as she was eying the talisman-wrapped padlock that secured the door, Rui suddenly grabbed both of her hands in her own. Yukina turned her attention to her friend, finding her looking suddenly determined.

"Listen to me Yukina," she said, sounding every bit as sure as she looked. "When they come to do it, we will resist it."

"Yes," Yukina agreed. "I have friends who will come for me: my brother Hiei can find the village with his Jagan Eye and my sweet Kazuma will definitely come for me."

Rui faltered slightly.

"Kazuma?" she asked.

Yukina nodded, smiling in spite of her dire predicament.

"Kazuma has been so kind to me," she said. "He is truly a wonderful man – you would dearly like him, Miss Rui, and I know he would like you too!"

Rui attempted a smile, though it came out as little more than a tightening of her lips and a slight gentleness in her sad eyes.

"You sound just like your mother, when she first met your brother's father," she said.

"This is different," Yukina replied. "I haven't done what my mother did... I know I can't."

Rui lowered her head, looking down at Yukina's hands for a moment.

"I know what would happen if I did," Yukina continued. "I see how strong Hiei is, and I know I couldn't bring a child like that into the human world – not to mention that it would... Change so much for poor Kazuma, it would ruin his life..."

"Yukina, when they come to..."

Rui looked over at something to one side of their prison – something Yukina had noticed her friend kept looking over at, an odd metal cone-shaped item, mounted on the wall of a nearby building.

"We can protect ourselves with our energy," Rui said, turning back to Yukina. "You will go low to the ground, make yourself as small as you possibly can, and I will shield you with my body. My energy will protect us both until I am overwhelmed, and then my body will protect you. You must then use your energy to protect yourself for as long as you possibly can: you might outlast it this way."

Yukina slowly turned her head to look over at the item Rui had been looking over at so fearfully and so often.

"Kazuma will come for us," she said. "He won't let this happen to me."

She turned to Rui.

"And I won't let you sacrifice yourself for me, so don't even mention that idea again!" she said sternly.

"But you must!" Rui insisted. "It is, after all, my fault that you are here right now!"

"It's not your fault, Miss Rui!" Yukina argued. "I came because I was told that you were sick, and I was worried about you. The elders lied to me to draw me here. They are accusing me of treason. It's my fault that you are in this awful situation! I did something bad, and the elders came to find me for it, and they are damning you along with me!"

Rui shook her head.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Yukina," she said.

"By their standards I did," Yukina replied. "That's why they set me up like this. That's right, isn't it?"

Rui frowned and shook her head, and Yukina started to think that maybe something more was going on than she had at first realised.

"The elders locked me in here and came after you because of the message that the messenger delivered to them."

Yukina frowned.

"What messenger?"

The look on Rui's face only made Yukina feel all the more queasy and anxious.

"Was... Was the messenger a girl with blue hair, in a pink kimono, flying on an oar?" she asked warily.

"No, although the messenger could fly," Rui replied. "The messenger told them that you had revealed the location of the ice village – to men – and they panicked. I tried to tell them they were wrong, that you would never do that, but they locked me in here and sent a false message to you to lure you here."

Rui's eyes watered and she began to squeeze Yukina's hands tightly enough that it hurt.

"I should have done more!" she said, her voice suddenly much louder than the whisper it had been until then. "I should have resisted, I should have fought, or when you were coming, I should have shouted out to you to stay away! I could have done more to stop you ending up in here – I should have done more to stop you ending up here like this!"

"Stop it, Miss Rui!" Yukina urgently replied. "You mustn't blame yourself for any of this! I certainly don't!"

Rui hung her head.

"It makes me so happy to hear that you have friends in the human world, Yukina," she said, her voice once more a whisper, her head still turned downwards. "Because we ice maidens have no friends here in Demon World. There is not a single demon who would see us as anything other than a commodity."

"My brother doesn't..."

Yukina's words trailed off as she considered the fact that, outside of herself, Hiei hated all the ice maidens and wished them all dead.

"Well Yusuke..." she began. "Or Kurama..."

Rui lifted her head and their eyes met.

"You're right," Yukina admitted. "But my brother and Kazuma will come for me, and they will set us free, long before anything bad can happen to us here, I promise you!"

Rui smiled, but, with her friend finally reassured, Yukina had to admit to herself that she was not nearly so sure as she was pretending to be. The intense barriers that kept everything out of the ice village were powerful enough to block out absolutely everything: even though she had never felt the "red thread of fate" that Kuwabara spoke of, Yukina had always been able to sense Kuwabara in some way or another, but not so since her arrival back in the ice village. When he was sad, or hurt, or happy, or trying to reach out to her – which she was sure he would be by then – she could feel it. But, since arriving back in the ice village, Yukina could not feel anything at all – no energies, be they spirit, demon or emotion.

"I hate it here," she growled.

"Me too," Rui agreed.

Yukina wondered who the messenger was, the one who had brought lies about her to the village in the first place. She had suspected Botan, simply because something had been horribly amiss with the ferry girl, and she felt that sabotage of any kind was not beyond her in her current state: but Rui had been clear that the messenger was not Botan.

"The messenger who came here," she began. "Did you see what the messenger looked like?"

Rui nodded.

"What did the messenger look like?" Yukina asked.

"A shadow with wings," Rui replied. "Big enough and strong enough to endure the journey here, but also small enough and fast enough to dodge the traps laid around the entrances to the village."

"A demon?" Yukina asked.

"Yes," Rui replied. "A type of demon I have encountered only once before – though that particular demon was not capable of flight."

"What type of demon was it?"

"It was a partner."

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Yusuke and Kuwabara are on their way to Yukina, and with Puu, it seems like they will make it there in no time at all – or maybe not. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Demon World, Hiei and Botan arrive in Alaric, and one of Hiei's Border Patrol colleagues takes a special interest in Botan. **Chapter 11a: Angel**


	11. Angel

**Chapter 11a: Angel**

Yusuke grumbled out a curse as he finally freed his foot from the sticky bog, only to find that his shoe was missing. The purple bogs were every bit as difficult to walk through as they had looked to be all those times he had passed by them from a distance in the past: but flying over them by Puu was not an option. Yusuke and Kuwabara had started their journey on Puu's back, both believing the ascent to the top of the mountain would be quick and easy with the help of Yusuke's flying spirit beast, but they were not in the air long before realising that they would be forced to tackle to bog on foot, as an unusual fog hung in the air just above the trees of the bog, making the ground invisible from the sky. They had tried flying back and forth, around and round, but there were numerous paths exiting the forest, and the purple-haired girl had been quite specific that there was only one path which would lead them in the direction of the ice village (she had even underlined this fact on the angrily drawn map she had given Yusuke), and so he and Kuwabara found themselves battling the sticky wetlands.

"How's that red thread thing coming along, Kuwabara?" Yusuke called back over his shoulder before squatting down and fishing in the violet gunk for his shoe.

"I still can't feel Yukina," Kuwabara called back. "I'm not even getting a feeling that we're going in the right direction."

"We're probably not..." Yusuke grumbled as he finally located his shoe and began hauling it free.

As he scooped purple gunk out of his shoe, Yusuke took a moment took look around himself. Underfoot the ground was a veritable quagmire of slime and various moss plants, the occasional bubble blowing up over the slime and popping. There were random trees spread about, but the thick fog overhead hung so low, the trees disappeared into it, making them look more like pillars, holding up a white fluffy roof. The fog was blocking out a good deal of daylight, and the dark colouring of the vegetation only amplified the darkness around them, making it impossible to see in any direction for more than 30 yards or so. With Kuwabara's Yukina-senses failing him and the ice village itself not giving off any signal that was in any way detectable, they were at the mercy of following the one path they could actually see – though it was little more than a slightly shallower stretch of purple swamp cutting through the mosses and trees.

It was the sort of place Kurama could have been a big help in dealing with, since he would probably have some special plants to illuminate the path ahead or he might even have been able to use his leafy butterfly wings to fly them just above the path until they found the right path up the vast mountain and were able to use Puu again.

"Urameshi, maybe we should just call Hiei," Kuwabara suggested, eying Yusuke forcing his foot back into his slimy shoe. "Maybe he can at least tell us how to find the path from the air with Puu."

"I'm not calling him," Yusuke insisted. "We can do this. We found Tarukane's place way back, and we were both new at this sort of thing back then."

"But back then, we found the place because I could feel Yukina," Kuwabara replied. "This time I can't feel anything."

Yusuke paused just long enough to consider that there may be a far more sinister reason why Kuwabara's special link to Yukina had been severed: after all, Tarukane had kept Yukina behind talismans that even Hiei's Jagan Eye had been unable to see through, yet Kuwabara had been able to feel her then, at a time before he had even met her, before his connection to her was as strong as it was now.

"Let's just keep moving," he concluded.

"You don't think we should call Hiei?" Kuwabara asked.

"To hell with Hiei," Yusuke replied. "And if you're really so keen to call him up and hang out with him, then after we get Yukina back, why don't you and Yukina go on a nice little double-date with Hiei and Botan? That way you can all be one big happy family."

Yusuke started to walk on, and Kuwabara took a moment to join him.

""One big happy family"?" Kuwabara asked as he caught up to Yusuke. "What do you mean by that, Urameshi?"

Yusuke smirked to himself.

"I'm sure you'll find out one day, man," he said.

"Huh?"

Yusuke moved on, saying no more, deciding to simply let Kuwabara wallow in his confusion.

* * *

Hiei stopped, barely two steps on after passing through the portal to Demon World, and turned to Botan, as she had called on him in what seemed to be an unjustifiably sharp tone. She flew down to his side and jumped off her oar, winding both of her arms around one of his.

"Stay close to me, Hiei," she said, her face almost uncomfortably close to his as she spoke. "I'm excited to be here – especially to be here with you – but I don't know my way around and I need you to lead me."

Hiei looked down at her hands on his arm, finding the gesture odd and incredibly clingy, even by the ferry girl's usual standards, but he decided to let it pass. He walked on, her at his side, deciding that he ought to address the problem approaching them on the road rather than attempting to out-run it. It was not that neither he nor Botan could out-run it, it was more that the last thing he needed was a patrol unit reporting to Mukuro that he had been spotted jumping between worlds in the company of a spirit.

"Oh dear, what's this?" Botan remarked as Hiei stopped in the middle of the road and turned to face the oncoming vehicle.

"I think you know what this is," Hiei flatly answered her, keeping his eyes on the vehicle, which had started to slow down.

"I haven't seen so much of Demon World before remember Hiei?" she replied. "Why would I know what that thing is?"

Hiei glared up at her from the corner of his eye.

"You specifically asked to see inside one of the patrol vehicles at the Demon World Tournament," he said. "Have you forgotten already?"

She pouted and looking upwards as though trying to remember: but as she held that pose, the further thought occurred to Hiei that Botan had foregone the tour of a patrol vehicle that he had been forced to give to Koenma, his ogre assistant and Yusuke. Back then of course, the vehicles had not been used for the yet-to-be-formed Border Patrol, but rather were transporters for Mukuro's soldiers. They were still top secret then, but Koenma and Yusuke had been so insistent to see inside them, Hiei had eventually acquiesced: but Botan had remained behind as she said that a military vehicle sounded too scary a thing for her to be at all interested.

"Well never mind," he said, moving his eyes back to the enormous vehicle that was finally stopped before them. "You'll see soon enough."

The side door opened and, much to Hiei's chagrin, the rat-faced old man who was covering his shift climbed out of the vehicle. Apparently Botan was as disgusted by the sight of him, as she gripped her fingers more tightly into Hiei's sleeve and edged closer to him as the old man approached.

"I assume you're not here to tell me you're ready to return to work, Hiei," the old man called out to him. "Especially since Spirit World aren't exactly making stellar progress with their border expansion plans."

"Hn, don't worry, I'm sure you'll be back to your old role soon enough," Hiei answered him.

"And while I'm left covering your role I have to ask why you're bringing a non-demon into Demon World."

The old man stopped in front of Hiei with a stern look on his face, and, at his side, Hiei could see Botan turning her head away from him. It was true that the old man was an unfortunate looking, rat-faced, gremlin-like creature, but Hiei was sure that Botan had seen far worse in her time.

"That's not your concern," Hiei said. "She's with me and that's all you need to know."

"Well you did approach us," the old man replied.

"To stop you approaching us," Hiei flatly returned.

"If you're intending on keeping a pet here, you will have to register it."

Hiei growled and narrowed his eyes, but the old man was not fazed in the slightest.

"Does it speak?" he asked.

Hiei suppressed a sigh and turned his head to look at Botan, who was still trying to keep her face turned away.

"Introduce yourself – but don't overdo it," he muttered to her.

"Must I?" she asked.

"Yes," he firmly replied.

She tried to win her argument by pouting at him pitifully, but when he remained stoic she ultimately sighed forlornly and turned around to face the old man.

"Well, well, well," he said, a very unsettling grin spreading over his grey face. "Look what we have here..."

"Hello," Botan awkwardly answered him. "My name's Botan."

"Botan, eh?" the old man responded, creeping closer to her. "That's a nice name, isn't it?"

"Yes?" Botan warily replied.

"And where are you from, "Botan"?"

Hiei frowned, finding it odd the way the old man was addressing Botan. He knew the fool was obsessed with pretty young women who were usually repulsed by him, but he seemed particularly and unsettlingly interested in Botan.

"Spirit World…" Botan carefully replied. "I'm a ferry girl."

"A ferry girl?" he asked.

"I ferry lost souls to the afterlife," she quietly added.

The old man nodded slowly.

"Like an angel?" he asked.

"Well, I suppose some might call me that, yes…" Botan replied.

"Yes, an angel. You certainly are an angel."

The old man crept even closer and Hiei found himself squaring up to him defensively.

"I'm impressed, Hiei," the old man said, still unaffected by how badly he was irritating Hiei. "Such a pretty face. And an angel too."

"She's not an angel," Hiei grumbled. "But you are a fool."

"I bet, with such a pretty face, you're almost too much for Spirit World," the old man said to Botan. "With such a pretty face, I bet you make saints sin all the time."

Hiei stepped forward with one foot and grabbed the old man's white coat by the collar, bunching the fabric around his fist.

"You've seen enough and you've said more than enough," he growled. "I'm here, she is with me, I do not want to be stopped by anyone else, so make sure the message is received. Do you understand?"

The old man was, rather annoyingly, still looking at Botan.

"I'll go now," he said, his eyes still on the ferry girl.

Hiei loosened his hold of the man's coat.

"Before I do though, can I touch your hair?" he asked Botan. "It's such a pretty colour."

"Get the hell out of here before I blast you into oblivion!" Hiei yelled at him.

Hiei tightened his hold of the old man's coat, but they were shortly separated as Hiei's flare of anger caused his demon energy to spike, small wisps of black flames burning through the fabric. The old man staggered back a step, a ragged, charred hole in his shirt: but his eyes were still on Botan.

"I hope to see you again," he told her.

"That's nice," Botan awkwardly replied.

"Get out of here," Hiei warned the old man.

"She's a very pretty girl."

"Get the hell out of here!"

Hiei took another step forwards and the old man finally held up his hands and backed off. He turned and walked away, but his journey back to the patrol vehicle took an unreasonable amount of time as he kept looking back and smiling at Botan.

"Well, he was certainly a colourful character," she commented as he finally disappeared back inside the vehicle.

Hiei waited for the vehicle to start moving again, and when it did not, he found himself thinking about the telescopes inside the vehicle, and the image of the old man leering into one at Botan sprung to the front of his mind.

"Let's go," he said, pushing Botan in a less than chivalrous manner towards the edge of the road.

"Oh-oh, okay," she said as she awkwardly stumbled backwards from him.

Once they reached the edge of the road and moved down the embankment, below the level of the road surface, the patrol vehicle finally moved on, slowing as it passed them, only furthering Hiei's belief that the old man was using the telescope inside to ogle at Botan.

"What happened the last time you came to Demon World?" he asked her. "And at the Dark Tournament? Were demons this interested in you then too?"

He looked up at Botan expectantly, and she simply smiled back at him.

"It isn't funny," he warned her.

"I don't think it's funny, I think it's adorable," she replied. "You're jealous!"

"Hn, ridiculous."

Hiei tore his arm from the hold she had somehow managed to maintain on him and started to march away from her. She skipped after him, talking in an irritating sing-song voice when she caught up to him.

"Oh, don't be mad at me, Hiei!" she said. "I won't tell anyone. And I think it's very sweet that you care so much about me."

Hiei squared his shoulders and carried on without answering her. He was still not entirely sure how he felt about her or, more specifically, how he felt about getting involved in any sort of relationship with her beyond the casual acquaintance they had shared over the past few years. The only thing he did know was that if there was a chance for them to have any sort of relationship, it would be hinged on her willingness to relocate to Demon World: and he intended to test her commitment to exactly that over the next few days.

* * *

Kuwabara barely flinched as Yusuke splashed about in the pool at his side. After finally finding their way out of the swamp and through the forest beyond, they had reached a sort of scrub land on the mountainside, and the large pond there had been a welcome break, as they were both tired and dirty after their difficult journey to that point. The path they were following was very clear from their current vantage point, and it led up towards jagged rocks that disappeared into grey clouds. The clouds looked ominous, foreboding and unwelcoming: but Kuwabara could not feel anything from them. It was as though they were a literal abyss of all sensation and energy: emotion, mental, spiritual or demon.

The most striking thought Kuwabara could not escape was that the route he and Yusuke were taking was – according to the helpful pretty lady back in "scum city" – the only way to get to the ice village: which meant that, after they had rescued her from Tarukane and she chose to return home, Yukina must have followed the same route they were know taking. Kuwabara wondered how she had managed it – alone, no less. He and Yusuke, aided by a map and a large flying spirit beast, were struggling to make headway, but little Yukina had not only tackled it entirely alone, but she had never spoken of it since, as though it was no big deal for her.

And maybe that was the case.

Kuwabara knew that Yukina held back a lot. He never pressured her into talking about anything, he never asked any questions he felt she would not freely answer, but he was keenly aware that she was holding many things in, and one thing in particular. He thought that perhaps she underestimated how close he was to her, did not realise that he could in fact feel her suppressing something, almost as though she was physically pushing something back, deep down, refusing to release it. She would smile sweetly and make him more tea or ask him about his day, but she very rarely volunteered any information about her own life or her own feelings. He worried that she was maybe hiding the fact that she did not like him as well as he adored her: and that was a question he never asked out of fear of hearing the real answer rather than respect for Yukina's feelings. She was always kind to him, always happy to see him, always very patient and attentive, but something was missing.

Yusuke had spoken about it once, in regard to his relationship with Keiko, and simply called it "that spark".

Kuwabara believed it was there for him, but he was not at all sure it was there for Yukina. He always told her why he liked her so much, but she never said why she liked him. She had sometimes defended him when Hiei had been overly critical of him, but equally he himself had been on the receiving end of one of her rare and surprisingly sharp outbursts when she had defended Hiei's name against something Kuwabara had said.

Sometimes Kuwabara worried that Yukina did not return his feelings, and that she was just too kind to reject him outright, for fear of hurting his feelings.

As Yusuke continued swimming about like a fool, Kuwabara hauled himself out – the water was colder than they had expected it to be and he had been growing uncomfortable anyway – and he collected his clothes, which he had rinsed off and laid on a rock. Everything was still drenched, the cold, still air doing nothing to help dry anything. He supposed that the cold was the start of the winter climate the ice village existed in, and just another sign that they were on the right track. Once he was dressed he moved back into the middle of the path, looking up and down the mountain. He could not see the summit or the ground, but he guessed, from what they had seen of the landscape flying with Puu earlier, they were probably only one third of the way to their destination.

How had Yukina managed that journey? And as she never spoke of it, did that mean it was insignificant to her, that it was not the most difficult trial she had ever overcome?

Kuwabara suddenly felt that there was a lot he did not know about Yukina, and he continued to worry that the biggest thing he was in the dark about was the one thing he knew she was holding back: that one thing that was maybe the truth behind her real feelings for him.

"What are you busting you balls about, mopey?" Yusuke asked as he joined Kuwabara on the path.

Yusuke was still partially dressed, and by the look on his face was either oblivious to Kuwabara's inner turmoil or understood it completely and was choosing to try to cheer him by approaching the subject with humour.

"You think Puu can manage the rest of the way, Urameshi?" he asked his friend.

"Sure he can, right boy?" Yusuke said, patting a hand at his spirit beast, who he had managed to call to him once they had cleared the forest.

"Then let's do this," Kuwabara said with a nod of his head.

* * *

After much convincing to get Botan back onto her oar, Hiei had finally reached his destination, and Botan had promptly dropped off her oar and attached herself to his arm again. He found it a slightly odd, very human, gesture, but actually would have been willing to tolerate it: were she not acting like an anchor on his arm, holding him back as she walked painfully slowly, looking about herself in unabashed awe.

"So this is the famous Mukuro's stronghold?" she asked in a hushed, deep tone.

Hiei did not bother answering her, since he saw no need to. She was paying a lot more attention to every other demon they passed than he had expected her to. Usually, like at the Demon World and Dark Tournaments, she had the sense not to stare, lest she draw attention to herself, but she had suddenly thrown that sensibility out the window as she gawped shamelessly at every demon she saw.

"And you live here?" she asked.

Again, Hiei did not bother answering her, as, again, he was already certain that the answer ought to be obvious. He continued on, almost literally dragging Botan at his side, across the yard and into the entranceway of Mukuro's headquarters. His initial plan had been to take Botan directly to Mukuro, but he had since decided to take her to his own living area and leave her there whilst he addressed Mukuro on his own first. As they walked the ferry girl continued to stare at every passing demon, and as they began to pass some of Mukuro's highest ranking soldiers, Hiei noticed that Botan began twirling a strand of hair around one finger as she watched them pass by.

"And you outrank all of these other men?" she asked.

"Yes."

Hiei did answer that question, but because he was proud of it, and he enjoyed the dark looks his response earned him from his passing subordinates. He finally turned a corner and began down a narrower, darker hallway before ascending the steps up to his own private living quarters. They entered the area and stopped in the centre of the room for some time before Botan finally seemed to register where they were.

"My goodness Hiei, this is where you live?" she asked.

"Yes," Hiei plainly replied.

"But if you live in such a large and opulent property in such a prime part of Demon World, why are you always sleeping in trees and dressing like..."

She turned and eyed him over.

"Well, that?" she finished.

Hiei narrowed his eyes and, upon seeing his displeasure, Botan immediately released his arm and spun around in a complete circle.

"Oh it's just lovely here!" she cooed. "I could definitely be very happy to call this my home!"

Hiei's face dropped.

"Oh, you have such a lovely view from this window!" Botan chirped, gliding across the room to the largest window. "Oh and you have a balcony here too!"

Botan threw open the glass door and swanned out onto the balcony. Vaguely concerned that she might not appreciate the location of it, Hiei followed her out, grabbing her arm as she neared the railing, halting her just short of it.

"The drop on the other side is steep," he warned. "Winds up here can be sudden and powerful. Be careful."

"Oh Hiei, I have my oar, I'll be just fine!" Botan assured him, touching a hand to his hand, still on her arm. "But what a dear you are to worry about me like that!"

Hiei briefly wondered if taking Botan to Demon World really had been the best idea. Kurama often warned him against making rash decisions, and he found himself wondering if he had just made yet another rash decision that could have negative consequences. But, he told himself, the only way he would ever know if her feelings for him were real and if they could be more than casual acquaintances was to assure himself that she could survive in Demon World, and that was something it was better to establish immediately rather that waste time bonding with her in the living world just to learn that she could never live with him.

"Wait here, I have some business to take care of," he said. "Don't leave this area. Do you understand?"

"Of course!"

Hiei hoped she was being honest and that her trademark nosiness did not get the best of her. He quickly departed, moving as hastily as he could within Mukuro's compound, taking himself towards Mukuro herself. He had no idea how he would explain his situation to her, but he also knew that she was smart enough that she would already know he had brought a spirit to his room, and so it was not as though he would need to bother with the details of the how, more of the why.

Just as Hiei reached the last approach to Mukuro's room he skidded to a halt, a faint feeling reaching him. It was a signal so minute, so pathetic, so insignificant, it paled in comparison to the many other powerhouses in the compound. In fact, had the signal not been so familiar to him already, Hiei probably would not have sensed it at all.

The partner demon was back, and it was inside his living quarters.

When he felt its energy spike, Hiei hesitated no longer, turning and racing back to Botan.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** The partner demon is battling Botan, and Hiei walks in on their very odd confrontation. Meanwhile, Shizuru is growing concerned that something is amiss in Spirit World, Koenma has left his post to investigate and gotten himself into a rather sticky situation, and the SDF are having problems with their border expansion programme in Demon World. **Chapter 12a: No Friend of Mine**


	12. No Friend of Mine

**Chapter 12a: No Friend of Mine**

As Hiei finally returned to his living quarters he came to a halt, watching as Botan picked up a vase he had recently recovered from an abandoned village, hurling it across the room, seemingly at nothing. The vase hit the wall and smashed into pieces: but, much to Hiei's amazement, en route, the vase had grazed the fleeting shadow darting about the room. The blow finally slowed the creature, large wings flailing, a few stray blue and pink feathers breaking loose, before the creature ultimately managed to right itself in the air, and Hiei finally got a good look at it.

It was a bird demon, but no ordinary bird demon. It was larger than the more common birds of Demon World, with thick, strong feet and legs, a broad chest, and muscular shoulders supporting broad wings. It had the hooked beak of a predator but it also had several ornate, long feathers that stuck out above the rest, forming a circle around its head, giving the illusion of a halo.

It was clearly a partner demon, and, by the strength of its body, its main offering was probably as a carrier or hunter.

The bird finally looked over at Hiei, with eyes that were oddly the same colour as Botan's, set under thick black eyelashes. As they locked eyes, Hiei could not help but think that the bird itself was oddly reminiscent of Botan herself, and he momentarily wondered if it was that similarity that had attracted it to her in the first place.

Before Hiei could draw any logical conclusion on the situation, Botan swung her metal baseball bat at the distracted bird, smashing its wing nearest her, the sound of bones literally shattering filling the air. The bird screamed out in an strangely human-like voice and collapsed to the ground in an ungraceful heap of blue and pink. Such a wound was basically a death sentence for the creature, since its only real advantage in any situation – its only real offering as a partner – was its ability to fly, and it would clearly never fly again after such a brutal blow.

And that was obvious, so when Botan stepped one foot over the bird and raised her bat high above her head, clutched in both hands, Hiei found himself doing something he never imagined he ever would: he leapt forwards and caught Botan's attempted hit.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Ending it," she replied breathlessly. "This horrid menace has plagued me long enough, it deserves to die!"

Botan made a genuine attempt to wrestle the bat out of Hiei's hands, which was only all the more bizarre.

"Botan, calm down!" he ordered her. "Put your weapon away! Have some dignity!"

She met his eyes and for a moment she had the strangest look on her face. It passed quickly though, and with a whine of complaint, she banished her baseball bat.

"Now step back," Hiei said.

"What?" she echoed. "Why?"

"Just step back," Hiei insisted.

Botan finally acquiesced and took two steps back, removing herself from her stance over the fallen bird demon.

"You, bird," Hiei said, lightly prodding the toe of his boot against the bird's uninjured wing. "Look at me."

The bird slowly lifted its head, gazing up at him with the most pathetic expression he had ever seen on any creature's face.

"What brought you here?" he asked it. "Who do you work for? Why are you bothering Botan?"

The bird lowered its eyes to the floor, its sides visibly moving as it heaved a sigh. It then moved its fuchsia eyes back up to Hiei's.

"I made a mistake," it said in a faint voice. "I did a stupid thing."

Hiei found the bird's choice of words highly unusual, particularly as it spoke them as though they somehow had a much more profound meaning, and instantly explained everything.

"I'm sorry Hiei."

Hiei narrowed his eyes at the bird, but it simply continued to look up at him with sad, almost pleading eyes, as though hoping he would both understand why it was apologising to him personally and that he would forgive it whatever misdeeds it had done.

"Get it out of here Hiei, it frightens me!" Botan wailed.

Hiei looked over at Botan. Considering how brutally she had hit the bird, how easily she had taken it out, and how willing and ready she had been to smash its skull into the floor, he found her latest outburst more than a little disingenuous.

"We'll put it outside, beyond the gate," Hiei concluded, backing away from the bird, mostly to avoid having to look at its truly pathetic eyes. "If it can survive there, it will. If not, then so be it."

Botan nodded and Hiei moved to another part of the room to get a blanket, intent on bundling the bird into it: but behind him he heard movement, a part of him almost already knowing what was about to happen. Nonetheless, Hiei turned around, watching in a blend of disbelief and confusion as Botan grabbed the bird's short, fanlike tail in both her hands and dragged it across the floor and out the glass doors, onto the balcony. There she hauled it up and swung her arms around, launching the bird from the balcony where, without the use of its right wing, it spiralled through the air away from them before plummeting down the steep drop to an inevitable death on the gravelled ground far below.

Botan wiped her hands on her kimono and returned to the room.

"Why did you–" Hiei began.

"Oh Hiei, that monster has been the bane of my life, I hope it never comes back again!" Botan wailed over the top of him.

She shuffled across the room and threw her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in his hair.

"Oh Hiei, I'm so glad that I'm here with you, away from that beast, and finally free of it always pestering me so!" she whimpered into his hair.

"You shouldn't have done that," Hiei told her. "We should have asked it who it was working for, what it wanted with you."

"Who cares? It's gone now, and that's all that matters. Finally I'm free to just..."

Hiei waited for Botan to finish her thought, but instead of speaking, she angled her head lower and kissed his cheek, sighing lightly through her nose, the air tickling at his ear. He did still want to know what the partner demon had been after – particularly as its demeanour had been so odd – but the feeling of Botan breath on his neck and her fingers lightly playing with the hair at the base of his skull was proving to be incredibly distracting.

"Don't leave me again," she whispered to him. "Just stay here with me."

Upon hearing those words, Hiei was abruptly reminded why he had left Botan in the first place: he had been on his way to tell Mukuro that he would have a guest staying with him.

"Come with me," he decided aloud.

Botan took a step back to look him in the eye.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

She looked as though she did not especially care where they might be going, as though she was just asking the question for the sake of making conversation, but he answered her regardless.

"I will introduce you to Mukuro," he told her.

To his surprise, she looked quite pleased by his answer.

"I've always wanted to meet Mukuro," she said.

After witnessing Botan's behaviour – and the frankly absurd and ineffective disguise she had worn – during the Demon World Tournament, Hiei was a little surprised to see her suddenly keen to meet Mukuro face-to-face. His memory of her behaviour during the tournament had been that she had largely remained in the company of Koenma and his assistant, and any time she had been separated from her fellow Spirit World natives, she had become panicked and flighty. She had been terrified of almost every demon competing, especially the A-class and S-class demons – whom she had probably had no exposure to prior to that event – their power clearly at a level that even she understood she was helpless against. Even Kuwabara had accepted that a demon like Mukuro was in a completely different league from him, and likewise would have afforded her a fearful respect.

"It's such a great achievement that she thinks so highly of you, Hiei," Botan added. "Is it true that she considers you her heir to her empire?"

"Mukuro isn't in charge any more," Hiei reminded her. "But it's true that I am her second-in-command."

"Oh my."

Botan touched a hand to her chest and got that look she wore when Yukina presented her with one of those cream cakes she very occasionally made. Hiei did not especially like the fact that she appeared to be attracted to his position of power with Demon World, but according to her notebook, she had been attracted to him for quite some time, and certainly before he ever met Mukuro. He decided the best way to test if her awe of Mukuro was adding to her interest in him was to simply take her to Mukuro and gauge her reaction: and so, letting her once more hang onto his arm with both of hers all the way there, that was exactly what he did.

* * *

Shizuru looked down at her packet of cigarettes. She only had two left, which she felt was oddly symbolic. She withdrew one and lit it, taking a long drag on it as she surveyed her new surroundings. Koenma had lied to her – not that she was at all surprised about that – in that she had not merely been kept in Spirit World for one night. After leaving her in the interrogation room until late at night the day she first arrived, where her only company had been a brief visit from Yukina, guards had taken her back to a holding cell: and when she got back there, all the demons who had been in that area in the morning had been moved elsewhere, leaving her there alone. Ogres had brought her food and water during the next day, but nobody had offered her any information on what they thought she had done or when she would be released.

And, other than Yukina, nobody had come to visit her: not even Koenma or Botan.

After a day and night in the holding cell, Shizuru had been moved again, to the place she resided currently. She was not so stupid that she could not tell exactly where she was, but what was odd about her current location was why she had been put there. She knew that, even if Spirit World did believe that she had been communicating with a demon spy as they had implied they thought she was on the day of her arrest, that crime was not great enough to warrant her being placed in the maximum security section of the prison. Even the guards who had taken her there were apologetic about it and one had mentioned that it ought to only be a temporary measure, but offered no timeline for how temporary a measure it might be. Shizuru had a cell to herself, but all around her, the other cells were filled with bodies, as though every other prisoner or demon in Spirit World had been taken to the small area, and stuffed into the eight cells that made up that particular part of the prison.

As time wore on, something Shizuru had suspected to be true seemed more and more likely: Spirit World had not put them all there to contain them and stop them from causing trouble, but rather they had been moved into the most secure part of the prison to protect them from something far worse that had entered Spirit World.

Shizuru could feel what was happening, the tension so great she was confident that even someone with little to no awareness would have felt it. But, even if she had been unable to feel it, she still could have deduced there was trouble brewing by what she could see. The number of guards in the prison kept diminishing, and less and less spirits were passing through, to the point that, as she reached halfway through her second last cigarette, there was only one guard remaining, and it had been some time since anyone else had passed by.

The bad feeling that Shizuru had was not the one that would have seemed most likely in her current situation – the presence of very powerful demon in the prison or an altercation between inmates that had gotten out of hand – in fact, the feeling needling her was not the feeling of a powerful or dark aura at all. The troubling feeling concerning Shizuru was one of emotion.

Somewhere, not very far away from where she was being held, there was a very strong feeling of desperation. It was intensifying with every passing minute and it was coming from multiple sources. Most of them were close by, and they became more intense the further away they emanated from: but all of them combined were nothing compared to the feeling of desperation and bitter despair that came from somewhere far beyond them all.

Someone was suffering terribly, and Shizuru had the distinct feeling that their pain and anguish would very soon turn into anger and determination, a need for vengeance: and when that happened, she suspected that whatever it was that was really going on in Spirit World would take a very drastic turn.

* * *

Koenma had adopted his teenage form when he left his office that morning, with the idea that it would make him look more authoritative when he went to address the SDF. The soldiers had spent weeks carefully planning their border expansion operation in Demon World, even going so far as to have a contingency plan in place, should the absolute worst case scenario occur; an alternative option that would allow them to still take some land even if they were forced to retreat. At first all had seemed well: Ryuhi called in regularly with updates, and it seemed that they were in fact following their plan.

But, very quickly, the situation changed.

Since Ootake had been removed from service, Koenma had appointed Ryuhi as acting leader of the SDF. He had never formalised her position, but between them, they had agreed that he should do so after the SDF took more ground in Demon World, as the mission was her best opportunity to demonstrate to her fellow officers why she ought to be their new commander. Koenma had been vaguely concerned that the lack of formality behind her position could leave her vulnerable, as at least half of her fellow officers often had problems following orders, even when those orders came from someone in a confirmed position of authority, but Ryuhi had been confident and insistent that they proceed as they were.

Koenma also thought it had been a mistake for the SDF not to take Botan with them. Botan herself had said that she was not interested in going, but Koenma better trusted Botan's critical judgement in a dire situation: where the SDF would remain and fight, Botan would have the sense to know when to retreat and when to call for help. As it was, Botan had of course ended up in an entirely different battle instead, as she had brought him the news that Shizuru had been secretly meeting with a partner demon that appeared to be carrying messages back to its master in Demon World. It had clearly been difficult for Botan to admit that her friend was a traitor, and so Koenma had no difficulty in immediately supporting her concern by arresting Shizuru. After that, he had hoped Botan might stay and help the SDF after all, but she had wished to return to the living world, and so he allowed it.

But without Botan, and with updates from Ryuhi fading away and eventually ceasing altogether, Koenma had been forced to take matters into his own hands. In his more adult form he had left his office and left the temple altogether, heading for the point where the SDF had passed through to Demon World to carry out their plan. He reached the point where Spirit World ended and Demon World began – the point where he expected to find Ayame and a handful of ogres who the SDF had chosen to guard the line – and instead found there was nobody in sight. Concerned and very aware that the existing barrier at the other end had already been removed, Koenma continued into Demon World, into the land owned by Spirit World. However, before he could even reach the limit of the land Spirit World controlled, he had been forced to scramble up a tree and hide himself within the foliage.

Demons were passing by him, and continuing on into Spirit World.

Increasing numbers of demons, of increasing sizes and strengths, unharmed and heavily armed, were invading Spirit World, unhindered: they had clearly not met any resistance between Demon World and Spirit World.

Koenma was stuck in his hiding place, as there were so many demons roaming about, he would surely be seen if he tried to escape. He waited at first, assuming someone would come along and stop what was happening – be it one of the back-up team of Ayame and the ogres, or even an actual officer of the SDF – but time passed, and he neither saw nor heard any trace of his fellow spirits. Instead he was left watching helplessly on as Spirit World was invaded, with no SDF around and all their best fighters already deployed to assist the SDF. There was nobody really capable of fighting them off back in Spirit World, but, Koenma thought darkly, there was an entire prison full of demon convicts who would be more than willing to join them.

Telling himself that he had to act, steeling his nerves and determining to do something useful, Koenma finally dropped out of the tree.

But as soon as he did so, a large shadow fell over him.

He looked back over his shoulder, and the sight that greeted him told him he had just made a big mistake.

* * *

To say the situation in Demon World was out of control was an understatement. And the situation was only worsening, coming close to the point where even damage control was not a viable strategy for dealing with it. Ryuhi took a step back and looked around herself. None of her officers were following any of the plans she had laid out. They had deviated from the primary plan quite early on in the operation, and, when demons had started gathering and she had broken off to push them back, her officers neither stuck to the original plan nor resorted to the secondary plan. Instead of trying to keep as much of a barrier in place as possible, the SDF had torn down the old barrier, and, after rebuilding parts of it – mostly over the wrong coordinates – they had subsequently all abandoned the barrier to fight the onslaught of demons attempting entry to Spirit World.

The situation was becoming desperate, something made horribly clear when, much to Ryuhi's horror, a ferry girl came streaking towards her.

"What are you doing out here?" Ryuhi shouted at her.

"I've come to help," she called back. "There are demons pushing into Spirit World, those of us who were stationed at the original border have become caught up fighting, some have had to retreat to try to catch the demons invading. The situation is getting out of hand, I couldn't just stand by and watch it happen."

"You're not a soldier, you're not fit for combat!" Ryuhi argued. "You will only be a hindrance to us out here when we are left trying to save you. Go back to Spirit World! Demon World and war are no places for a mere ferry girl!"

Ayame circled around and came to a halt, hovering on her oar in front of Ryuhi, glaring at her with a respectable degree of contempt for such a weak spirit.

"I will not hang back there and watch Spirit World fall," she said sternly. "You have lost control of the situation here and I am going to do everything I can to change that. You asked for my assistance with this mission, now stop arguing with me and accept it!"

"There's nothing you can do!" Ryuhi cried as Ayame shot away from her.

And, as though to prove her point, a flying demon began pursuit of the ferry girl. The demon was faster and more agile than a ferry girl on an oar, and it was only a matter of time before it caught her and made a meal of her. It was just another failure Ryuhi would have to report back with: the loss of a foolish ferry girl. She sighed and began taking aim to attempt a shot at the demon chasing Ayame – but the ferry girl was apparently not done acting ridiculously.

"Don't you dare waste your energy on this thing, Ma'am!" she shouted down to her. "Get back to rebuilding the barrier, let me deal with the demons – that is something I can do – only you can rebuild the barrier!"

Ryuhi lowered her arms and watched as Ayame wove through the air, making a decent effort to evade attack, but the demon still ultimately catching up to her. Then, in what seemed like an act of very poor judgement, Ayame arced around and shot downwards at a forty-five degree angle, moving in a straight line, allowing the demon to gain on her quite rapidly. Ryuhi opened her mouth to shout at the ferry girl to make an evasive manoeuvre while she still could: but before the words could form in her mouth, the demon chasing Ayame collided with a section of barrier Ryuhi had been building, catching on it momentarily and writhing about in pain. Ayame, as a spirit, had passed straight through it, and casually floated around, scouting the area for any other airborne threats.

As she passed by Ryuhi, flying at a distance just a few feet above her head, Ayame glared down at Ryuhi with a look that was almost enough to make Ryuhi – an officer of the SDF – nervous. Ryuhi awkwardly nodded at her and she shot off again, flying directly towards another flying demon with an air of confidence that was, perhaps, quite justified after all.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Hiei introduces Botan to Mukuro and they have a little chat, though Hiei is ultimately left displeased by the conversation. Elsewhere in Demon World, Yukina and Rui are getting ever closer to a dire fate (and a fire date), and Yusuke and Kuwabara are facing an ordeal of their own as they attempt the last stretch of the mountain to the ice village. The demon invasion of Spirit World has become rampant and Shizuru suspects she may be in great danger: and elsewhere, Koenma, Ayame and even the officers of the SDF have been completely overwhelmed. And finally, (it's a very action-packed chapter) Keiko tries to reason with Maya. **Chapter 13a. Liar**

 **A/N:** Okay, so here we go with the 6-part masterplan... There are 6 separate disasters happening (1- Keiko/Kurama/Maya, 2- Yukina/Rui, 3- Yusuke/Kuwabara/Puu, 4- Shizuru, 5- Koenma/Ayame/SDF/Spirit World in general, and, let's be honest, 6- Hiei/Botan) which are going to escalate insanely as we circle back towards the B story. There were a couple of reveals in this chapter (why Koenma arrested Shizuru) and more of that foreshadowing (expressed via Koenma and Ryuhi). Also Shizuru's wildly accurate premonitions.

Chapters (A and B) get longer from 13 onwards, just because there are 6 separate dramas going on, and how they play out is going to be pretty wild...


	13. Liar

**A/N:** Buta = pig, chu = squeak (noise a mouse/rat makes). So Butachu = pig-rat, I guess...

* * *

 **Chapter 13a: Liar**

Mukuro's face was blank – which was not unusual for her – but Hiei felt that it was an indication that she was neither pleased nor impressed that he had brought a spirit not only into Demon World, but also into her private quarters.

"Hiei," she said, giving a small nod of her head in greeting.

Hiei returned her nod, but said nothing. At his side, Botan was still clinging onto him and still gazing around herself in awe.

"As you're standing before me with a resident of Spirit World in what appears to be a very touching display of solidarity, can I assume you have come to me to inform me that you are ready to return to duty, Hiei?" Mukuro asked.

Hiei let out a small, low, growl involuntarily.

"No," he answered.

"That's too bad," Mukuro immediately responded. "Because I've received word from Spirit World that their little operation may take longer than their initial estimates. Butachu is needed here, and I hadn't planned on sparing him any longer than necessary."

"Spirit World's estimates can never be trusted," Hiei bluntly pointed out.

"Of course I wasn't planning on sparing Butachu at all," Mukuro said, as though Hiei had not even spoken. "But since you refused to work, I had no other choice. And now here you are, standing before me, with a friend."

Mukuro purposefully turned her head and fixed her eyes onto Botan.

"It's an honour to be here with you, Mukuro," Botan said to her.

"She'll be staying with me for now," Hiei told Mukuro.

"Not here she won't," Mukuro flatly replied.

Hiei's eyebrows drew together and his eyes began to glow, but Mukuro remained unaffected by his change in demeanour.

"Relationships between her world and ours are very strained right now, the last thing I need is my second-in-command keeping a spirit here like some sort of trophy," she frankly explained. "Take her home, Hiei."

"She would be staying with me–"

"That's an order, Hiei."

Hiei stiffened up, his back straightening defensively. Since earning his position as Mukuro's right-hand man, she had very rarely given him any direct orders, typically trusting and allowing him to do as he pleased, so her sudden severity was both surprising and unwelcome.

"We will leave," Hiei warned.

"Oh that's such a shame, it's so nice here!" Botan cooed at his side. "I didn't mean to bother you Mukuro, but I promise if you let me stay, I'll be as quiet as a mouse – you won't even know I'm here."

Mukuro narrowed her eye almost imperceptibly, but Hiei knew that it was a bad sign.

"You," she said, pointing a finger at Botan. "Step forward."

Botan looked at Hiei and he nodded at her. She still looked wary – which was a sensible response at least – but did as was asked, sliding her arms out of Hiei's and taking a decisive step forwards. Mukuro took a moment to study her before giving a small nod of her head.

"You're a ferry girl?" she asked.

"Yes I am," Botan replied.

"And Koenma can spare you from your duties to come here like this?" Mukuro asked.

"I'm not exclusively a ferry girl, I perform other roles in Spirit World–"

"If you have more duties beyond those of collecting the souls of the dead, I wonder how you have any free time at all."

Botan gulped, both audibly and visibly.

"I haven't often visited Spirit World," Mukuro continued, her tone slightly softer. "In fact, only the once: when I met with Koenma to agree the rules for the Border Patrol Service. He was very specific that what we did here in Demon World, returning the humans to their own realm, didn't contravene the terms of the Three Worlds Convention."

"Yes, of course," Botan said, nodding her head. "The Three Worlds Convention is a very important thing."

Mukuro paused, giving Botan a hard stare that made her move one foot as though she intended to step back, but instead her foot hovered in the air for a moment and then ultimately returned to its original position.

"Who are you?" Mukuro asked in a quiet, low voice.

"My name is Botan," Botan replied.

"I didn't ask your name," Mukuro said. "I asked who you are. Because you are not a ferry girl. There is no such thing as the Three Worlds Convention: and only should you know that, but, as a ferry girl, you should know that your world would never have such in-depth contact with the world of the living to form such an agreement."

Botan froze that way she tended to when confronted with something terrifying – and understandably so, as Mukuro was sounding increasingly displeased. Mukuro leaned to one side of her throne, one of her guards approaching her accordingly.

"Bring me Butachu," she said. "Right now."

The guard nodded and hurriedly out the room, ignoring the glare Hiei gave him as he passed.

"Hiei, I understand you were very young when you travelled with bandits, and not very much older or more mature when you met Kurama and got yourself trapped in the human world," Mukuro said. "So I don't expect that you have had first-hand experience of a masquerader."

"I know what a masquerader is," Hiei sharply replied. "That fool Butachu employs them often."

"That's convenient, that makes what I have to say next much easier," Mukuro said. "This girl standing here is not a ferry girl, she is a masquerader, attempting to play us for fools."

Botan gasped.

"That's not true," Hiei argued. "Don't you think I would know if I was being played for a fool?"

"Do you really want me to answer that, Hiei?" Mukuro asked.

Hiei stepped forwards to stand alongside Botan.

"She was Yusuke's assistant when I met her, and that was several years ago," he declared. "She cannot possibly be a fake!"

"We'll see," Mukuro replied, her eyes moving to something beyond Hiei.

Hiei turned around to see the grey-skinned, weaselly old man who was covering his Border Patrol duties entering the room.

"Butachu, stand on the other side of this girl," Mukuro said to him.

He duly moved to stand on Botan's other side, leaving Hiei glaring past Botan at him as he simpered up to the ferry girl.

"Do you recognise this girl, Butachu?" Mukuro asked him.

"Yes, I do," he replied.

Hiei, for the first time since Mukuro had begun her argument, began to feel an element of doubt creep into his mind.

"She's the lovely angel Hiei brought here," Butachu said.

"She seems to me to be that one masquerader you are especially fond of," Mukuro replied. "Is this her?"

Butachu turned to Mukuro, the look of genuine confusion on his face leaving Hiei no more reassured about what appeared to be happening.

"No!" Butachu eventually said.

Hiei literally sighed in relief, something a quick glance around the others told him nobody else had noticed, which was equally as big a relief for him.

"This girl is a true angel," Butachu said. "She is not the one you speak of. Vaguely similar, but completely different!"

"Can you prove that she isn't your friend?" Mukuro asked.

"Yes, I can!" the old man replied. "I brought the masquerader here with me today!"

"Where is she now?"

"I don't know, but I did bring her here."

Mukuro gave him a flat look.

"A simple check of the surveillance videos can prove this matter," Hiei reminded her.

Mukuro nodded and retrieved her remote control, pointing it at the screen in one corner of the room. She looked as confident as Hiei felt as they watched the screen flicker to life. Mukuro scanned back through the video to the point of Hiei's usual patrol vehicle arriving in her front yard. She then allowed the video to run, which showed Hiei's temporary replacement and two other officers disembarking.

And then a very odd looking woman leapt out of the vehicle.

Mukuro paused the video.

"There, you see!" Butachu said, pointing at the woman on the screen. "There she is."

Mukuro and Hiei both took a moment to really study the woman on the screen. It was obvious to Hiei that she was nothing like Botan, but he tried to give Mukuro the benefit of the doubt. In fact, he thought to himself, as he continued watching on, he had perhaps even seen her before, during one of the many times he had been left collecting Butachu from scum city after he had lost all his money to her. She was dressed impractically, her hair was bigger than her entire upper body and, even through video footage, Hiei could see that she was weak and unworthy of anyone's time or effort.

"My mistake," Mukuro admitted, switching off the monitor and sitting back in her throne.

"They are both very pretty girls," Butachu said.

"You're dismissed," Mukuro answered him.

Butachu took one last lecherous look at Botan, one hand fleeting towards the end of her ponytail, almost making contact before she turned her head to pull it out of his reach. He then finally left and Hiei turned expectantly to Mukuro.

"You can't keep a ferry girl here, Hiei," she said. "At least not right now. Send her home, she can return after Spirit World have finished their little project."

"We will return after Spirit World finish their little project," Hiei replied, putting a hard emphasis on "we". "Let's go."

He turned to Botan, who, for a moment, looked reluctant to leave. She then made a little "oh" sound and smiled at him, looping her arms through his and gladly walking out with him, so he dismissed her initial hesitancy as just another quirk of her often very quirky persona.

"The space you have here is very lovely, Hiei," she said as they walked down the hall away from Mukuro's quarters. "Thank you so much for showing it to me."

Hiei knew that she was just being polite, but her words made him realise that, after showing her the level of comfort he usually enjoyed in Demon World, he could hardly expect her to want to go and sleep in a tree.

"I'll take you somewhere just as fine," he assured her.

"Oh Hiei, that sounds wonderful!" she said, tightening her hold of his arm.

Hiei sighed and continued on, through the compound and out across the yard. As they passed his vehicle, parked where Butachu had left it, Hiei silently hoped that the old man had not been taking dirty masqueraders into his vehicle and doing even dirtier things with them. For such an intelligent creature, he really was quite stupid to let himself be conned by such filthy women.

* * *

Yukina stood up and moved to the bars at the front of the cage. The fogs in the ice village were thick, and even an actual ice maiden like Yukina had difficulty seeing through them, but she could see shadows moving about, more numerous than was normal for an average day in the village.

"They're starting the ceremony."

Yukina looked back over her shoulder at Rui, who was still knelt on the ground, but looking in the same direction as Yukina had been, at the gathering shadows.

"This is how they do it," Rui said, looking up at Yukina with a look that made her more nervous than the thought of the fate that awaited them. "They make everyone participate, make everyone watch. To make sure we all learn what happens to defectors and traitors."

Yukina swallowed.

"When my mother… Did you…?" she asked faintly.

Rui said nothing, but the look on her face was answer enough. Yukina turned back to watch the shadows, gathering together and merging into one. Then, slowly, she began to see what was happening. The leader of the ice village was approaching, and directly behind her, in one long, straight line, all the other ice maidens were following. Yukina tightened her hold of the cage bars, a small part of her wondering if Kuwabara knew how late he was whilst a much larger part of her raced nervously between the desperate belief that the cage must have a weakness she could exploit to escape and the desire to fight the leader of the village herself.

She had already decided that if Kuwabara did not arrive and if she could not find a way out, she was going to make sure every ice maiden in the village heard everything she had to say about their way of life before she died.

Rui stood up at her side, approaching the bars and watching the approaching line as Yukina was.

"Everyone old enough to walk does this," Rui explained. "Everyone except the very young."

"Children can walk," Yukina pointed out.

"Yes, that's true," Rui agreed. "Only infants are excluded. Everyone else must carry a log here."

Yukina looked down at the ground immediately outside their enclosure.

"They build a pyre?" she asked.

"Yes," Rui confirmed.

Yukina looked over at the metal cone mounted on the wall, its shape suddenly making sense to her.

"And they light a torch, and then they…" she began.

Rui put a hand on her shoulder, but the attempt at a comforting gesture meant little to her in her current state of mind.

"There has to be a way out of this," she insisted.

"Your mother said the same thing."

Yukina tensed, tightened her hold of the bars again as the leader moved over to stand beside the metal cone and began stuffing it with kindling. As she did so, the women of the village began placing down logs of wood around the cage. None of them looked directly at Yukina or Rui, or even into their cage at all. They all kept their heads down and duly carried out their task without hesitation like the true cowards that they all were. The women had all lined up in order of rank or age, as the elders approached first, and, as the pile increased, soon the only ones approaching the cage were children of ever decreasing height, some of the last to approach barely bigger than the logs they were struggling to carry.

Rui put a hand on Yukina's hand nearest her and began prying her fingers from the bars. Yukina turned her head to her with a questioning look, but when she saw the look of utter despair and total acceptance on her friend's face, she found every muscle in her body going weak, and Rui was able to pry both her hands from the bars and pull her around to face her.

"Don't look," Rui whispered, squeezing Yukina's hands in her own.

Behind her, Yukina heard the crackling of a flame igniting, its presence only confirmed by the terrified screams of most of the ice maidens present, their fear of fire as prevalent as it always had been.

"Just don't look," Rui said.

Yukina tried to answer her, but words failed her. Her friend moved her arms around her and Yukina gladly closed into her embrace, gripping her hands into fists around the loose material at the back of Rui's kimono sleeves.

As the leader moved close enough to them that Yukina started to feel the heat of the fire, she gripped tighter into Rui's kimono, the sounds of stitches stretching and creaking reaching her even over the sound of the crackling flame and the crying children in the village.

* * *

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled.

The blizzards at the snowy peak of the mountain were so intense, the fog, falling snow and drifting snow that filled the air so thick, visibility was reduced to the point that Yusuke and Kuwabara had become forced to literally hold onto each other to keep sight of each other.

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled again.

Even though his friend was right at his side, it looked as though he had not heard him: the howling of the wind and the whistling whine of snow drifting around them was deafening.

"I see something, up ahead!" Yusuke shouted at Kuwabara's ear, pointing to the slightly darker shape he could see through the grey haze around them.

"Okay, good," Kuwabara shouted back, his voice blotted and distorted.

"Can you feel anything yet?" Yusuke asked him.

"Huh?" Kuwabara responded, leaning his ear closer to Yusuke's face.

"I said, can you feel Yukina yet?"

Kuwabara shook his head and Yusuke cursed – though even his own ears did not hear the word. However, Yusuke did not lose hope, as there clearly was something up ahead of them, looming in the gloom. The snow they were trudging through was deep, and they had – earlier, lower down the mountain – been forced to choose to use their energy to keep themselves warm and upright rather than burn it all off blasting through the snow, leaving them forced to wade through the snow that was as deep as Yusuke's thighs, making every step hard work. And, despite the short range of visibility, when Yusuke looked back over his shoulder, their deep, sweeping tracks through the snow had been completely filled up again already, to within just a few steps of their current position.

The two pushed on, the shadow ahead slowly becoming clearer. It was a mound in the snow, perhaps an underground entrance to something or a raised area that marked the start of a route up to the village that supposedly floated in the sky. As they drew closer still, the mound appeared to move – or perhaps it was just an optical illusion created by the violent winds and excess of snow battering everything. A few more steps and Yusuke was sure that the mound was moving, appearing to rise up. Maybe, he thought optimistically, it was some sort of elevation towards their ultimate destination.

Kuwabara stopped walking at the exact same instant Yusuke did, and both took a long time to react to what they were looking at.

"I don't believe this!" Yusuke eventually yelled. "I can't believe this – how is this possible?"

He looked at Kuwabara for an answer, but his friend was simply slowly shaking his head. Yusuke turned back to what lay ahead of them, watching as Puu tried to shake off the snow that had gathered on his back.

"We left him here like an hour ago!" Yusuke said. "And he hasn't moved: we've just walked in a circle! All that damn effort for nothing, we're right back where we started!"

Puu was still clearly too overwhelmed by the weather to be of any use, his large wings weighted down with snow and ice.

"We're never gonna make it!" Yusuke concluded.

Kuwabara said something, but his words were lost in the wind.

"What?" Yusuke yelled at him.

"We have to – Yukina did it, we can too!" Kuwabara shouted back.

Yusuke looked around himself, but with visibility so restricted, it was a pointless exercise. Hiei had once mentioned that there was a steep drop off one side of the ice village, and the map the girl from scum city had given him implied the mountain was hollow on one side, a vertical drop of tens of thousands of feet. With every step they took, they risked stepping over the edge and plummeting to the ground – and with Puu so incapacitated, they could not even rely on him to save them.

Yusuke did not want to tell Kuwabara that he thought their task was a hopeless one, but he was running out of ideas of what they should do or try next.

* * *

The last guard had gone. He had been gone for some time, but also the sight of an occasional ogre or ferry girl running by had long stopped. Something was moving into Spirit World, and Shizuru was not the only one in the prison to have noticed: her fellow inmates were becoming increasingly restless. If they were all, somehow, able to escape their cells, Shizuru already knew that she would not escape herself. She was confident that she could take out at least half of them, but not all of them.

She looked down at the packet of cigarettes in her hand. She just had one left, but she was saving it for when she needed it.

A shadow moved past the barred doorway leading into the prison, but it returned almost as soon as it had passed. It was a large bull demon, not one who had been a prisoner, rather one of the invaders that were trickling into Spirit World from Demon World. He fought angrily with the bars – which, just like the bars of the individual cells themselves, were beams of spirit energy, glowing lines faintly green in colour. The bars worked in both directions, even hissing and crackling when the bull demon touched them from the outside as he tried to break in. Some of the demons in the prison called out to him, apparently recognising him.

The bars would surely hold though, as the area they were all in was the highest security facility in Spirit World: in theory, even if all of Spirit World fell, the bars on the cell Shizuru was in should be the very last thing to fail.

Shizuru tensed as the bars the bull demon was fighting turned yellow. Nothing else about them seemed to be any different, but she was aware that another demon – outside of the prison, positioned beyond her line of sight – was tampering with the control panel for the bars. She had hoped that only a spirit would be able to remove the bars, but maybe the system was not so sophisticated as that: something that was seemingly confirmed when the bars turned orange.

Shizuru looked back over her shoulder at the small grating high in the wall. The opening was too small for her to crawl through even if there was a way she could climb up to it and remove it to access the tunnel that no doubt lay beyond it: but she wondered if she could access that tunnel by breaking down the wall itself. Escape was, quite clearly, her only hope of survival. As she looked at the slightly glossy bricks, her mind weighing up the options of kicking the wall in the hope of finding a weak point or else searching for a crack or fault in the cement, perhaps removing one insecure brick and then breaching the structural integrity of the wall to make it collapse, she saw the orange glistening over the bricks turn red.

Slowly, she turned around, not even flinching when the bars disappeared altogether and an energetic hoard of demons stormed into the prison.

As she watched them systematically remove the bars over the first actual prison cell, releasing a further dozen demons into their midst, Shizuru slid the last cigarette from the packet. Bringing it up to her lips she paused, crossing her eyes to watch as the end of it quivered in her hand.

She already knew she would not make it out alive, but before they finished her, she would take as many of them with her as she possibly could.

* * *

Koenma flailed his arms and legs and struggled as best he could, but all to no avail. He was being carried along by his clothes, the large demon who had caught him dropping out of the tree having simply grabbed a handful of his clothing at the small of his back and started walking. His only consolation was that the demon was taking him further away from Spirit World, deeper into Demon World, and that meant one less demon invading the home he, as its leader, ought to be protecting. The demon had not spoken to him, but equally Koenma was not attempting conversation back, all his energy instead focused on trying to escape his current predicament, and toying with the idea that he might need to remove his pacifier and unleash its energy: though he would need to carefully choose just the right moment for that.

Before long, they reached a ledge, with a steep drop down to a wide flat land beyond. As the demon stopped walking, Koenma stopped struggling, the sight before him enough to make him forget all about his own dire situation. The ledge marked what had been the former divide between the small section of Demon World owned by Spirit World and Demon World proper, and the flat lands below and beyond were the area the SDF had declared they could easily claim.

There were small sections of partially constructed barriers here and there, but most of what Koenma was looking down on was a scene of carnage, chaos and bloody battle. Any attempts to build the new barrier, restore the old one or even just to stop the demon invasion had been abandoned, as every officer of the SDF was fully embroiled in battle, out-numbered and overwhelmed even in situations where they did have a distinct power advantage.

And, in the middle of it all, Ayame was clinging to a tree she appeared to have crashed into, pieces of her broken oar entangled in branches around her. Beneath her a heavy-set man, easily twelve feet tall, as shaking the tree with just one of his large hands, trying to make her fall. She was clinging on desperately, but the branches supporting her were cracking under the pressure and, after just a few shakes, she fell to the ground, landing on the opposite side of the tree from the demon. He moved around towards her and Koenma held his breath: she was motionless on the ground, completely vulnerable.

Why was she even out there, in the thick of battle? She was never meant to have left her post further back, nearer Spirit World: a battle like this was no place for a ferry girl.

The demon leaned over her, large hands reaching for her, engulfing her in shadow. The instant before he made contact, Ayame rolled onto her back and thrust one arm up, a sharpened shard of her oar, engulfed in almost all of her spirit energy, stabbing right through the centre of one of the demon's palms. As he cried out in pain and surprise, she scrambled out from under him and ran, with an admirable amount of determination and effort.

But unfortunately for both Ayame and Koenma, the ferry girl was the one spirit present still so resolute.

And, equally as unfortunately, Ayame was no match for the strength of a demon, least of all a demon enraged, and when the demon she had attacked broke a branch off the tree she had fallen from and hurled it at her with his uninjured hand, it hit her hard, knocking her off her feet: and the demon was on top of her before she could even attempt to move.

* * *

Keiko glared at Kurama accusingly, but still he said nothing. If anything, Keiko was more annoyed with Kurama than she was with Maya or her demon friend Uso, and mostly because he was just standing there saying and doing nothing as she was left, on her knees, her ankles bound together and her wrists tied up at the small of her back, unable to even stand as that nasty piece of work Uso had pushed a stick down between her arms and knees and deep into the ground, effectively preventing her from crawling forwards, standing up or even sitting back down into her ankles.

"Here, drink this."

Keiko gave Maya the hardest look she could manage, willing pain upon her. Maya did not so much as flinch, remaining in place, crouched in front of Keiko, one arm draped across her knees, the other hand holding out a cup of water towards Keiko's mouth.

"Go ahead, drink it," Maya said.

"I'd rather die," Keiko hissed.

"Well, you will," Maya frankly replied. "Unlike fox boy over there, you're human and you can't survive without food and water. And you could be here a while, so you better swallow your pride and start accepting what I'm offering you."

Keiko was incredibly thirsty. She had been stuck in the same position for two nights and a day, and survival instinct was at war with her pride as dehydration began to overtake her good senses. She had a blinding migraine, every part of her felt dry from lack of water – even her skin felt dry and tight over her bones – but she was determined not to give in.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, hoping that Maya's answer would at least distract her from her pains.

Maya sighed.

"It's not personal, Keiko," she said.

"Stop repeating that witch Uso and tell me why you are doing this!" Keiko snapped.

"Uso isn't a witch," Maya replied, shaking her head. "She's just very misunderstood – like all demons are, right Kurama?"

Maya and Keiko turned their heads to Kurama, but still he stayed silent and still, barely even blinking or breathing.

"Oh, that's right, he can't talk," Maya said, turning back to Keiko.

"This isn't a game," Keiko answered.

"I never said that it was," Maya replied, looking suddenly very serious. "Humans have been oppressing demons for centuries – for millennia – and Uso is their one ambassador, the one who will bring peace to all three worlds, when she shows humans and the spirit world how wrong they've been all this time. What Uso is doing is a good thing, and I'm proud to be able to help her in whatever small way I possibly can."

"Oh you are so full of shit!"

Keiko's last word – one she very, very rarely uttered aloud – echoed through the trees around them.

"Uso is a nasty piece of work, and she's playing you – using you – to get what she wants!" Keiko continued. "Why can't you see that? You're not an idiot, Maya."

Maya stood up.

"You don't know Uso like I do," she said quietly. "You only met her very briefly, when she found you poking about in my room and brought you to me."

"That was long enough for me to realise what a horror she is!" Keiko argued. "If you've known her longer, you should know it even better than I do."

Keiko looked over at Kurama for a moment before turning to Maya again.

"Is this really what you want?" she asked her.

"This is what I have to do to aid Uso," Maya replied. "This is her will."

"Forget about Uso!" Keiko yelled. "I'm talking about you, Maya! Is this – any of this – what you want? Kurama is only here because he cared about you, and you betrayed his trust!"

"Uso already told me that you would try something like this. She told me that you have feelings for Kurama, that you would be jealous–"

"This isn't about that! And that's not even true! You have to stop this! You have to let us go!"

Maya moved over to stand directly in front of Keiko and then angled her wrist, slowly pouring out the contents of the cup of water immediately next to her.

"That's not going to happen," she said coldly. "You're here until Uso says you can leave."

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Hiei takes Botan to a lush hotel, but she's confused by the arrangement he proposes there. Keiko starts to lose hope of ever making Maya see sense, and the situation reaches fever pitch when Maya's demon ally Uso shows up. In the ice village, Rui has one last thing to say before she and Yukina face execution, but will her words change anything? Yukina believes their only chance of salvation lies in the hope of a miracle… **Chapter 14a: Release**


	14. Release

**Chapter 14a: Release**

Hiei kept his hands in his pockets, but he did so because his fists were clenched and he was more anxious than he could admit even to himself. The cat demon at the counter smiled at him in an almost sickening way through irritatingly pitying eyes as she placed keys down on the desk between them.

"I hope you and your..."

She leaned to one side, peering past him at Botan, who was transfixed by a painting she had spotted as they entered the hotel.

""Friend" enjoy your stay," the cat demon concluded.

Hiei grunted and swiped the keys from the desk, stuffing them into one pocket so that he could keep his hands there, and moved back over to join Botan.

"This painting is so exquisite!" she gushed as he joined her.

Hiei looked up at it. It was not really his taste – although he had never seen a painting he had actually felt was his taste – but he could see a signature in the bottom corner of the canvas that alerted him to it being the work of a very important demon, and that the painting itself was probably worth more than the entire hotel: and the hotel happened to be the finest hotel in all of Alaric.

"He's a well-known artist," Hiei admitted aloud.

"Do you own any of his works, Hiei?" Botan asked, turning to him with an almost lustful look in her eyes.

"No," he flatly replied. "Though I've handled a few in my time..."

He started to walk away and Botan hurried after him, linking one arm through his.

"You've been an art dealer?" she asked. "That sounds so... Exciting."

"Hn, yes, I was a dealer," Hiei replied with a smirk. "I've stolen and resold many works of art in the past."

"Oh."

Botan looked immediately disappointed.

"I thought you had bought them," she said dejectedly. "I just assumed, as Mukuro's second-in-command, that you would have enough money to buy fine art. Your home is certainly worth a lot of money."

Hiei frowned, finding it vaguely odd that Botan knew or even cared about the value of material things in Demon World. He walked into an elevator, taking her with him, and they continued in silence up to their floor. When they exited the elevator again, Botan immediately looked pleased again as she took in the marble-floored hallway, lined with marble pillars decorated with gold filigree.

"The rooms in this hotel must be so expensive!" she said. "And you paid for a room for me? Just because Mukuro wouldn't let us stay at your place, and you like me so much you wanted me to stay somewhere nice?"

Hiei clenched his fists a little tighter in his pockets as he felt himself becoming tense again.

"It's... This way," he muttered, turning and guiding her on along the corridor.

In truth, as they were on the penultimate floor, there were only four rooms on the entire floor, and he had, quite specifically, chosen to come to the hotel they were in, and asked, quite specifically, for the room he felt Botan would like best of all. She was not entirely wrong when she had asked if he wanted her to stay somewhere nice: as much as he wanted to test her ability to live in Demon World, he was also latching onto the fact that he had found an easy way to impress her.

It was not that he felt he needed to impress her, just more that he wanted her to be aware of his achievements.

"This is your room," he said, handing a key to Botan.

She hesitated to accept the offer, her eyes on the proffered key, but neither of her hands reaching out to accept it.

"What do you mean my room?" she asked. "Don't you mean our room?"

Hiei retrieved the second key from his pocket.

"My room is this one," he explained, showing her the key and indicating the room door behind his back. "Across the hall from yours so that we are close."

Botan pulled a face at him, one that made him feel distinctly uneasy.

"Why did you get us separate rooms?" she asked. "For the price you paid for two rooms on this floor, you could have rented the penthouse suite on the top floor. Why didn't you?"

Hiei's eyebrows lowered slightly as Botan's comeback seemed odd to him. She remained unfazed, but did qualify her statement, as though sensing his scepticism.

"I know how hotel rooms work, Hiei," she said. "The top floor is always the best room – and I saw on the way in that the whole top floor can be rented. It's one big luxurious room with its own Jacuzzi."

"It's not appropriate for us to share a room."

The words had left Hiei's mouth before he had really though them through, but he had always believed that consequences were not so important, that really it was more important to do or say what felt right in the moment, that the rest would work itself out, and he would deal with it when it did.

"Why not?" Botan asked.

"Because…" Hiei began. "That puts a lot of pressure on…"

She smiled sweetly and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Oh my, aren't you a gentleman!" she gushed. "Not wishing to put me on the spot like that, how incredibly sweet of you! But, you know Hiei, as the entries in my notebook show, I have no problem being intimate with you."

Hiei's eyes dropped to the floor, the only clear thought reverberating around his mind being that the one not wishing to be under pressure to act was him. He had already figured out that she would gladly have jumped into the same bed as him, but he was just not quite ready for that with her yet, and he already knew there was no way for him to admit that to her without either hurting her feelings as she mistook it for an outright rejection or else she might think him somehow less of a man for not wanting to accept her very open offer.

"Would it help if I read you another entry?" she asked in a low voice.

Hiei lifted his eyes to hers, the look on her face alone both making him want her more but feeling all the more apprehensive about actually acting upon his feelings. She reached a hand into the folds of her kimono and fumbled about for a while, to the point that Hiei began to wonder if she was actually trying to remove her bra, and he wondered if he ought to tell her that was not a good idea out in the hallway, even on such an elite level within such a high-class hotel: it was, after all, still in Demon World.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I was looking for my notebook, to read you another passage from it, but…"

Her fumbling became more desperate and Hiei found himself looking up and down the hall – there were two other rooms on their floor after all – before taking a step towards her.

"Stop that!" he warned her.

"Hiei, I don't have my notebook any more!" she cried. "It's gone! I don't how it could have…"

She narrowed her eyes and ran her hand over her mouth, muttering something as she did so. Hiei could not tell if she had intended for him to hear her or not, but regardless his demon ears picked up the word "doshu".

"Do you want to go back and try to find it?" Hiei offered. "Or can you just get another one?"

"My notebook is very precious to me, Hiei," she said. "But… It is a time of new beginnings in my life, maybe it's time I got a new notebook too. I don't really need that one any more anyway, right?"

She smiled and began tucking herself back in where she had pulled loose some of the neat folds of her kimono.

"Doesn't that book contain information about your job in Spirit World?" Hiei asked. "It wouldn't be wise to leave something like that laying around in Demon World, where it could fall into the wrong hands."

"I mostly use my notebook for writing about you, Hiei," Botan replied. "Don't worry about it. There's nothing valuable in there, and anyone who does find it, won't be able to do anything with it that would really mean anything anyway."

Hiei was not convinced, but Botan looked and sounded very confident, and she was the owner of the thing, so he had to trust her response.

"We can have dinner later," he suggested.

"That sounds fantastic!" she gushed.

"I'm going to take a nap."

"Oh."

She looked and sounded disappointed, but Hiei simply turned around and opened his room door.

"Well if you change your mind and would like some company–"

"I'll know where to find you."

"I'm right across the hall!"

Hiei closed the door, closing himself into his room. He sighed and then turned to watch through the spyhole as Botan entered her own room – something he wanted to be sure she did do rather than go wandering off on her own. Once she had closed herself into her room he turned around again and looked about the room before him.

He had no idea what he was doing.

* * *

"Don't do this!"

Yukina flinched in surprise at Rui's outburst, which had been spoken with so much effort, she had literally felt her friend's voice reverberating in her chest, which Yukina had been pressing her forehead against.

"Please, just… Let me speak," Rui continued.

Yukina turned her head just enough to look outside the cage, where she saw the village leader standing by the other side of the pyre, the still rampantly flaming torch in her hand.

"You don't have to do this," Rui said to her. "You could release Yukina. She would just leave here and never come back. You don't have to punish her, just punish me. Please."

The leader took on a thoughtful look and, before she could stop herself, Yukina released Rui and threw herself at the bars of the cage.

"Don't listen to her!" she cried. "If you are going to burn Miss Rui alive, you better burn me with her! Because if you don't, I will come back here. I will come back here, and I will burn all of you as you sleep in your beds!"

A collective gasp passed over the villagers, but Yukina neither cared nor regretted her outburst in any way.

"Do you see what has become of this one?" the leader asked them. "Do you see how wild and wanton life with men has made her? She has become coarse and crude, reckless and–"

"Stop talking and do it if you're going to!" Yukina cut her off.

The leader looked outraged to have been interrupted, but her hesitation was brief. She raised her arm in the air and turned fully towards the pyre. As she began lowering her arm, bringing the torch down towards the logs surrounding the cage Yukina held her position at the front of the cage, neither her mind nor her expression losing any determination.

She had already accepted that help was never coming – nothing short of a miracle could stop what was happening – but she was determined that her last act of defiance would be to show them that she was not afraid.

* * *

Keiko fought to remain stoic as Maya finished pouring out the water she had been offering her. She was acutely aware that her situation would very soon become quite dire if Yusuke did not arrive soon and rescue her – which is what she was relying on happening, though he sure was taking his sweet time getting there. And since Kurama was apparently still incapacitated, she could not even rely on his help. He was standing, barely a few feet from where she was tied up, his legs from the knees down completely encased in the body of a very dark grey creature. He appeared to have literally stepped into its mouth, and Keiko had not seen either the creature or Kurama move since her arrival.

Maya started towards him, looking pleased with herself: but, just before she reached him, she froze, and, as though in response to her reaction, Keiko heard a faint "thoop" sound. Maya slowly angled her head downwards towards Kurama and Keiko copied her action, gasping when she saw that, from nowhere, something had appeared on the creature holding Kurama. Everything was still and everything was silent, but, sticking out of the creature's body, was a length of sparkling pink wood, with a few rigid, brilliant blue feathers taped around the end of it.

It was exactly the same as the item Keiko had found in the library, and she already knew exactly what it was. She turned to look into the trees, but could not see anything. A yelp from Maya brought her attention back to the situation next to her and Keiko herself let out a cry of alarm when the creature holding Kurama began to emit a thick black smoke from the point where it had been hit. Maya, standing right in its path, began coughing and choking on the smoke, staggering about and grabbing at her throat. The creature began to deflate, but the smoke quickly thickened in the air and soon Keiko could not see anything around her.

And then, just as her visibility was all but gone entirely, Keiko felt two sharp, lightning fast tugs at her back.

In the instant that Keiko realised her bonds had been severed, Maya stumbled into her line of sight and without hesitation, Keiko leapt at her, slapping her as hard as she could across the face, sending her spinning around and then crashing to the ground.

"Kurama?" she called out, before moving her sleeve over her mouth and nose.

She heard him groan and splutter and took that as sign enough that he was recovering. Maya started to push herself up onto all fours, but Keiko dropped a knee into the small of her back and grabbed a handful of her hair, pushing her back down to the ground.

"You're not going anywhere!" she yelled.

Keiko coughed a little as the smoke began to catch in her throat, and that was when she heard Uso speak.

"Keiko, are you alright?"

Keiko's head whipped around as she searched for Uso's location. Eventually she noticed a shadow within the smoke, but it was several feet from her and even further from Kurama.

"Keiko, I have to go," Uso said. "Can you manage to hold Maya? Will you be alright?"

Keiko frowned.

"Isn't Maya your friend, Uso?" she asked.

There was a short pause before Uso spoke again.

"Will you tell Kurama he is needed immediately in Spirit World?" she asked. "There is a problem there, and his assistance is urgently needed. When he comes around, tell him to hasten there. And Keiko?"

"What?" Keiko snapped.

"Please take care of yourself."

Keiko scoffed.

"You've got some nerve pretending to be my friend after you abducted me and carried me all the way here and tied me up like…"

Keiko's voice trailed off as the smoke cleared and she realised that Uso was long gone. She sighed and turned her head to look over at Kurama, who still looked as though he was struggling to wake up.

"I don't understand!" Maya whimpered beneath her. "What did I do wrong? I thought this was what Uso wanted, why did she do this?"

"A good friend of mine once said something to me that I think applies here," Keiko replied. "For a smart girl, you sure do say some stupid things."

Keiko smiled wryly as she recalled Botan saying those exact words to her all the way back at the Dark Tournament: much time had passed and much had changed since then, but Keiko had never forgotten that moment.

"Uso asked me to do this!" Maya wailed. "She told me I had to keep Kurama out of her way! Why did she release him?"

"Good question…"

At the sound of his voice, Keiko turned to Kurama, who was pushing himself up onto all fours.

"Keiko…" he said breathlessly. "Did you see what happened?"

"Not really, but I didn't need to," she replied. "Maya's nasty demon friend Uso showed up and released you and me for some reason. Then she said I have to tell you to go to Spirit World."

Kurama looked confused, which was a relief to Keiko, since if Kurama was confused then their situation really was perplexing, and her confusion was not just a result of her ignorance of demon matters.

"I don't understand," Kurama said as he finally managed to sit back onto his heels. "The okui that was holding me… There is only one way to stop it."

"Yes…" Maya said miserably. "Uso shot it in its weak point and killed it, releasing you!"

Kurama gave a small frown and Keiko, unwilling to move from her position holding Maya down, reached into her jeans pocket to retrieve the item she had found in the library.

"Here," she said, holding it out towards Kurama.

He crawled closer to her and took it from her, studying it for a moment before sniffing at it.

"Maya had this," Keiko explained. "I didn't know what it was at first – well, not until Uso showed up threatening to shoot me with one. It's the end of an arrow."

"Yes, and the feathers contain traces of demon energy," Kurama replied, playing a finger through the rigid feathers on the short broken arrow end Keiko had passed him. "These feathers belong to a partner demon, and they have been donated to infuse the partner's energy into the arrow, which is wielded by the master, who in turn infuses the arrow with their own energy. The two energies combine to create a greater power – the power of which depends on the strength of the bond between the partner and the master."

Kurama sniffed at the broken arrow again.

"What does it smell of?" Keiko asked him.

"Well, it mostly smells of the inside of your pants," he plainly replied.

"Kurama!" Keiko yelped, her face instantly flushing red.

"My apologies," he hurriedly offered, a faint hint of embarrassment colouring his cheeks too. "It's just that it has been inside your pocket most recently."

"If I had a hand free right now, I'd slap you so hard…" she growled at him.

"Yes, and you would be quite justified," he replied sincerely. "I don't recognise any of the scents on here, but the recently shot arrow should still hold some clues."

Kurama crawled back over to the saggy remains of the creature that had been holding him captive, lifting up flaps of dried skin until he uncovered the arrow still buried deep within. He pulled it loose and immediately nodded with interest, sitting back down with his legs bent ahead of him.

"Yes, I'm familiar with this design," he said, indicating the arrowhead, which was shaped like a heart, ornate and almost pretty to look at, but with razor sharp edges. "This design makes it harder to remove the arrow once it penetrates the victim. Sharp ends let it cut its way back out, but blunt, rounded ends like this heart-shape won't cut back out, meaning the whole thing has to be cut out, causing significant damage. These arrowheads may look pleasing to the eye, but they are lethally cruel."

Kurama played his fingers through the feathers on the end of the complete arrow and Keiko saw something she rarely did: a look of surprise on Kurama's face.

"The energy here is much, much more powerful," he commented. "The only explanation for an increase like this could be that the bond between the partner and the master has become much stronger than it was when that previous arrow was made."

Kurama lifted the shaft of the arrow towards his nose, and for a moment he froze. Then, in a movement too fast for Keiko's eyes, he was on his feet and running awkwardly towards the direction the arrow had been fired from. He made it partway across the clearing in the forest before stumbling, searching the sky and then hobbling back over to Keiko.

"Did you see anything that happened here?" he asked her.

"No, but it was Uso," Keiko replied.

"I don't understand why Uso would do this!" Maya whimpered.

Kurama swallowed hard and tightened his grip of the arrow.

"Keiko, I must go," he said.

"Okay..." she said.

"This," he said, holding the arrow a little higher. "Is a sign of something truly terrible. I may even already be too late to stop something disastrous from happening – if the sheer increase in power here is any indication, it has already been... I must hasten to Spirit World immediately."

"That's where Uso told you to go," Keiko pointed out.

"It is where I must go if there is to be any hope of stopping a tragedy from occurring."

"O-okay..."

"I'm sorry Keiko, you'll have to deal with this on your own."

"I'm fine."

Kurama nodded and took off, still walking a little awkwardly, still clearly a little weakened. Keiko had no idea what was going on – it did seem odd that the demon named Uso, who had been so quick to threaten her life and take her prisoner, had suddenly shown up to free her, and had even sounded concerned when asking if she was alright.

Something strange was going on, but nothing involving demons ever made much sense to Keiko anyway.

* * *

Rui was tugging at her kimono by her knees, but Yukina held her place at the front of the cage. She could feel the heat of the torch, and it was almost at the point of being painful, but she refused to step back. The leader continued lowering the torch towards the pyre but, several inches short of her goal, a sudden crashing sound resounded deep in the heart of the ice village, distracting literally everyone present. The leader straightened up, bringing the torch with her, and Rui scrambled to her feet, gripping Yukina's shoulders.

Every ice maiden in the ice village stopped to watch the strange diagonal line that had appeared in the sky. Through the swirling fog, it was difficult to see where it started or where it ended, or even what it was made of: but when one of the elders stepped forwards and sent out a light gust of air towards it, the fog dissipated just enough to give clear visibility of what had happened.

Protruding from the grey clouds in the sky was a length of rope, that stretched in a diagonal line downwards towards the village leader's house: which had taken a bit of damage, the obvious source of the crashing sound. Several planks of wood had been cracked and some pieces had fallen to the ground below, along with some of the roof tiles, and, embedded into the heart of the damage was a length of pink and silver sparkling stick, around which the rope from the sky was attached.

The stick was crackling and glowing with demon energy, energy more powerful than an average ice maiden possessed, and possibly even more so than the leader of the tribe herself.

The end of the stick was decorated with a set of rigid blue feathers, taped on to the pink stick, looking exceptionally colourful against the otherwise grey backdrop of the ice village.

"What is that thing?" one of the ice maidens cried.

"Are we all going to die?" another asked.

Rui tapped on Yukina's shoulder and, when she turned her head to see why, she saw her friend was looking up at the sky, her mouth open and her eyes wide. Looking around the village, Yukina could see every other ice maiden – even the leader of the village – was doing the exact same thing.

Yukina slowly tilted her head back, again looking to the point in the swirling clouds where the rope disappeared. She gasped as a winged shadow appeared amidst the grey, fighting the winds and drawing closer to the village.

More murmurs of fear and confusion rippled through the audience of ice maidens, but all fell fearfully silent when the approaching demon broke free of the vortex of clouds and dropped to the ground. The leader took a step forwards but stopped there when the winged figure suddenly arose, showing its true form.

It was a woman, dressed very inappropriately for visiting the ice village in a thin black vest, short, frayed black shorts and black ankle boots that were more decorative than functional; yet she seemed entirely unaffected by the bitter cold. Around each of her thighs she had what looked to Yukina like garter belts: one was supporting a large, cruel knife in a black sheath, and the other looked like a utility pocket, storing something box-shaped. She had a fully-stocked quiver of pink and blue arrows over one shoulder and her hands were loosely holding a worn, well-used bow.

The leader took another step forwards but stopped abruptly as a pair of enormous wings shot out of either side of the woman's shoulders.

"What are you?" the leader asked her. "How did you get here? And what do you want with us?"

The woman smiled, the only thing more impressive than her demon energy or her entrance being her confidence in the face of countless demons ready to chase her off.

"I come bearing a message," the woman replied. "One that you would be wise to listen very carefully to."

The leader pointed her free hand at the woman's bow.

"We don't tolerate violence in this village, lower your weapons – all of them – before you approach!"

The woman, much to Yukina's surprise, nodded and placed her bow down on the snowy ground. She removed her quiver and placed that down too, and then stood, planting one foot onto some of the broken shards of wood she had dislodged from the leader's house, and unfastening the belt holding her vicious knife around her upper thigh. She dropped the sheathed weapon down beside her other weapons and held up her hands, walking forwards until she was standing almost as close to the edge of the pyre as the village leader herself.

"Don't come any closer!" the leader warned her.

"I wonder what sort of threat that is," the woman mused. "Given that you just told me you don't tolerate violence..."

She purposefully looked over the cage holding Yukina and Rui and the pyre, before her eyes finally rested on the still flaming torch in the leader's hand.

"And I wonder how you can justify what you appear to be doing here, if you truly don't tolerate violence..." she added.

"Mind your own business!" the leader spat at her. "Deliver your message and then depart immediately!"

The woman smiled in a way that made even the village leader appear nervous.

"My message is of a rather sensitive nature," she said, before covering her lips with the fingers of one hand.

"Then pass it only to me," the leader answered.

"It isn't written down," the woman said as she noticed the leader's outstretched hand. "This message is so sensitive, it could not be written down, lest the information fell into the wrong hands: something I'm sure you wouldn't want."

The leader slowly retracted her hand.

"I must whisper the message to you," the woman said in a loud whisper. "I'm going to approach you now – and don't try anything with that torch as I do, or I will not hesitate to shout my message loud enough that all of Demon World hears it."

Yukina was absolutely certain that the leader would not tolerate what was happening. If the messenger really did have a secret message, her threatening to share it was pointless: she would be murdered long before she got the chance to breathe a single word of it. However the leader did, strangely, allow the woman to approach her, and lean over her. Yukina could barely make out the woman's lips moving, but her voice was indeed a whisper, as no sound emitted beyond the leader's ear.

As she finished delivering her message – a message that must have been very short, and as she lingered by the leader's ears for mere seconds – the woman smiled and straightened up, and the leader of the ice village dropped the torch she held, which rolled around a quarter turn before the flame sizzled out in the snow.

A collective gasp spread over the village, but the leader, who initially looked horrified by what she had heard, made a swift recovery, mustering her energy and blasting a powerful and viciously cold wall of air at the messenger.

A second, louder, collective gasp spread over the village when the woman stood her ground, crossing her arms and wings over in front of her face, the blast deflecting away from her, and any ice that made contact with her instantly melting into water that harmlessly rolled off skin and feathers alike.

When the attack ended, the leader was left breathless and shaking as she watched her intended victim slowly lower her arms to her sides and, after a couple of short flaps, retract her wings.

"Was that your best shot?" she asked with a smirk.

The leader looked horrified and more than a little afraid: and, for a brief, glorious moment, Yukina's heart gave a beat, and she wondered if a miracle was about to happen after all. The woman standing before the leader casually shook out some excess water from her hands after defending herself against attack, a gesture that seemed almost mocking.

"Who are you?" the leader asked. "Take off that mask and let me see your face!"

"You're a fine one to talk about "masks"..." the woman replied.

The leader growled and launched another attack, but again the mysterious woman blocked it with her arms and wings, deflecting most of the damage, and again turning any ice that hit her instantly to water. The attack ended and again the leader was left breathless, and again her opponent seemed barely affected. She shook off her wings and hands and took a step forwards but, for a third time, the leader of the ice village unleashed an attack upon her, crying out and putting so much of her energy into it that Yukina and Rui had to cling onto the bars of their prison to keep themselves upright, the backdraft of the assault radiating out in every direction.

And again, the woman in black defended her herself with little apparent effort.

The village leader's voice faded and she dropped to one knee, heaving laboured breaths as the woman shook off her wings and hands again.

"What do you want?" the leader asked her.

"Well for a start, I'd like you to stop doing that," the woman replied. "It's incredibly rude!"

The leader glared at her.

"But, more seriously, I came here for two things," the woman replied, taking on a more serious tone and expression. "And if you don't comply with my demands, I will shout out your dirty little secret from the highest rooftop in this village."

The woman pointed to the highest rooftop in the village – the village leader's house – which she turned to look at, a flicker of an awkward smile passing over her face as she eyed the damage she had done to the roof and wall with her arrow.

"You want riches?" the leader asked. "You can take the girl who produces the finest stones: Kaoru, give her your daughter!"

Everyone turned to a white-haired ice maiden standing beside a girl barely half her height and identical in appearance.

"Your heartless mess!" the woman in black cried. "I'm not here to kidnap an innocent child – what sort of monster do you think I am?"

The leader scowled back at her.

"Then what did you come here for?" she hissed.

"I came here to tell you to release Yukina."

Yukina gasped. Rui gripped her shoulders and smiled at her – genuinely smiled at her – in what Yukina thought might be the first time she had seen since was a small child.

"Yukina is tainted," the leader snarled. "Her tears are not so valuable."

"This isn't about tears," the woman flatly replied. "But speaking of tears, you and I both know I can make you shed some, so how about you just release Yukina?"

The leader growled and thinned her eyes, but, with great effort, she hauled herself to her feet, dragging herself over to the cage and opening the lock. She grabbed Yukina's arm and pulled her forwards. Yukina stumbled out, but she immediately looked back at Rui, who was still smiling cheerfully, even as the leader closed the door between them, locking Rui in once more.

"Take her and begone," the leader said, pushing Yukina towards the visitor before dropping to her knees.

"Rui?" Yukina said faintly, reaching out a hand towards her friend.

As she had been forced to stumble off the edge of the makeshift pyre, Yukina was too far away for even her fingertips to reach the cage.

"Don't worry about me Yukina, please," Rui insisted. "Please just go! Take this chance and be happy!"

Rui looked so genuinely happy herself in that moment Yukina almost wanted to scream: how could she be happy to die so painfully?

"If we do leave here now, what will you do with Rui?" the messenger asked.

Yukina turned to her sharply, finding her giving the village leader a hard look. She turned to the leader, who looked entirely indifferent about the whole situation.

"I see," the woman in black concluded. "In that case, you had better give me Rui, too."

Yukina gasped, bringing her fists up to her face as she smiled up at her apparent rescuer.

"Hurry up, I do have other things to do today," the woman in black urged, flicking a hand in a disrespectful gesture at the village leader.

To Yukina's surprise, the leader moved back over, opened the cage again and pulled Rui out. Rui stumbled over the logs and Yukina caught her in an embrace.

"Now get out of here before I change my mind!" the leader snarled. "And never return!"

The woman in black nodded.

"I said two things," she said.

"I released two prisoners," the leader replied.

"That doesn't count," the woman in black flatly replied. "I have friends waiting for me on the mountain. You will call off the storms until Yukina, Rui and I have left the village and liaised with our friends. They, unlike the three of us, cannot navigate the storms."

"How dare you ask me to expose our village to outsiders!"

The woman in black smiled.

"Did I mention that my friends are both men?" she added.

"Out of the question!" the leader roared.

"Very well, have it your way," the woman in black replied with a shrug, before turning to face the gathered villagers. "Ladies, come closer and listen carefully, because what I'm about to tell you is something you are definitely going to want to hear!"

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Yukina, Rui and the strange visitor to the ice village make their point to the village leader and take their leave. Everything seems to be going so well: but when Yukina finds out what the mysterious message was for herself, her entire life is completely changed forever. Meanwhile Yusuke and Kuwabara are having a very hard time in the snow (and it's all about to get even HARDER for Kuwabara, LOL). In Spirit World, Shizuru is really in dire straits, but will anyone make it in time to help her? **Chapter 15a: The Lie**

 **A/N:** I had to add an extra chapter because this one is already so long, and this chapter was originally supposed to take us right through the ice village scene and catch up with Yusuke and Kuwabara, but, well, as is always the case, I had this great idea about something else that should happen in the ice village, and this whole scene got much bigger/longer than I had planned.


	15. The Lie

**Chapter 15a. The Lie**

Hiei forced his hands into the cold water – despite just how much he despised cold water – and scooped some into his palms before throwing it up at his face. He growled and shook his head, rolling his eyes up until he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror over the sink. He looked pathetic, though that was only to be expected, since that was also exactly how he felt.

Again Hiei splashed cold water on his face, repeating his actions until his skin tingled and he could see in the mirror that he was starting to turn pink. He then straightened up and walked back through to the bedroom of his hotel suite, his face and hairline still dripping wet, taking himself to one of the windows, which overlooked the street below. He hoisted himself up to sit on the windowsill, looking about the world outside.

It was not that he did not want what was happening, it was more that it was happening far too fast and felt far too forced, and he was almost literally itchy with the desire to flee.

Yusuke and Kurama had joked in the past that Botan had what they referred to as a "crush" on him; a word he had taken a few rounds of jokes to guess the meaning of, based on the context they appeared to be using it. He had certainly been relieved when he had found out that it was not some sort of invisible Spirit World curse that would literally crush him if he did something Spirit World disagreed with. Prior to their teasing, Botan had barely registered on Hiei's radar – or at least, she had not registered any more so than Keiko or Shizuru or Shiori. She was just someone on his outer circles of allies who happened to be female. He had never thought about her in any kind of sexual way and he had never considered her in any way attractive, and really because, in all his experience up to that point, women were rarely interested in him, and he was more interested in the pursuit of strength than the pursuit of women.

But after the joking around had started, Hiei had quickly grown suspicious. Oftentimes Yusuke joked about things that seemed outlandish, but later proved to have at least some foundation in solid fact, and so Hiei was never able to completely dismiss the idea that maybe Botan did genuinely have some sort of interest in him.

And the more he thought about it, the more he started to notice Botan and everything she did and said.

He started to think that maybe he was interested in her, but if she was interested in him – as Yusuke and Kurama kept implying she was – then she ought to make it clearer. As it was, every time she so much as touched him, she went out of her way to deny it and seemed uncomfortable and almost disgusted that she had. Confused, and neither knowing how to nor especially wanting to make the first move, Hiei had instead just waited for Botan to make her intentions abundantly clear, at which point, he told himself, he would reciprocate.

Technically, he now had what he wanted: she had, very boldly and unambiguously, declared her interest.

But he had never expected her to be so forward about it, and for things to move so quickly.

Hiei supposed he was not really sure what he thought would happen if and when Botan ever admitted any feelings of attraction to him, but what was happening now had been the last thing on his mind. He neither wanted it, nor wanted to chase her away.

He had no idea what he was doing.

* * *

"I think we're circling back again!" Kuwabara yelled at Yusuke.

"What?" Yusuke yelled back at him.

"I think we're circling back again!" Kuwabara repeated.

"What?"

Kuwabara groaned and stopped walking, forcing Yusuke to stop at his side as they still had their arms linked. Kuwabara slid his arm from Yusuke's and stepped away from him, intent on moving himself around to look directly at his friend, in the hope that they could understand each other by lip-reading: but Kuwabara's second step away fell out from under him, and suddenly he was slipping, falling through the deep snow. He faintly heard Yusuke cry out his name as he frantically grabbed at his arms. The two barely managed to grab each other at the elbows, Kuwabara's fall halting as his weight caught on Yusuke's arms.

Kuwabara slowly looked back over his shoulder, the view he was afforded certainly much clearer than the view he had been experiencing walking around the snowy mountain peak. He was hanging off of a literal cliff, mountainside falling away into clouds hanging over ground so far away no specific detail was even visible from his current height.

He screamed at Yusuke not to let go, even though it was debatable whether his friend even heard him. Yusuke began trying to haul him back up, but in the snow, which was compacted beneath his feet, he began to slip. He tried leaning into the deeper snow behind himself to anchor himself back, but Kuwabara was slowly sliding lower, telling him that he was going to fall regardless, and that by holding him, all Yusuke was really doing, was assuring the fact that he would fall too.

Kuwabara just hoped that Puu would be able to break free of the snow and catch them before they reached the ground.

* * *

"Alright, have it your way. Ladies, come closer and listen carefully, because what I'm about to tell you is something you are definitely going to want to hear!"

"Stop!"

The leader of the ice village reached out her hands and stumbled forwards a few steps, looking to be still weakened from her earlier exertions. The woman in black turned to her expectantly.

"It would be quite a pickle if I did announce your little secret and then those men came here," she said. "Can you imagine? Everybody knows the truth, and then two very attractive, virile men come strutting in here–"

"Just go!"

The ice maidens all gasped and yelped as suddenly everything stopped. The snow stopped drifting, the winds fell silent and still, the clouds dissipated and the fog with it: and suddenly all of them could see and feel the outside world.

For Yukina, the feeling of other energies came as a relief, but for the others, most of whom had never set foot outside of the confines of the glacial island, it was overwhelming.

"Girls, let's go, there's nothing more for us here now," the woman in black said to Yukina and Rui.

Rui nodded and walked towards her. She indicated for Rui to lead the way out of the village, which she duly did, starting along the path that led to a usually concealed set of steps down to the mountain peak below. Yukina started after her, but, as she reached the woman in black, she heard the leader mutter something and she immediately stopped.

"Just ignore her," the woman in black told Yukina. "She's just a mean old lady with no love in her life. She can't hurt you ever again."

Yukina squared her jaw and rounded on the village leader.

"What did you just say?" she asked her. "Say it again. Say it loud enough for everyone to hear if you are to say it at all."

The leader scowled at her, but complied with her request.

"I said good riddance to a dirty whore," she said, sounding almost proud of herself.

"That's what I thought you said," Yukina said, grabbing at her kimono and pulling it up until she had exposed her shins.

She then marched back up to the pyre and began kicking away the logs.

"Um, Yukina?" the woman in black said to her. "We should just leave..."

Yukina ignored her, kicking harder and harder, until she was launching logs into the air. A moment later, Rui was at her side, copying her actions. And a moment after that, the woman in black had joined them. Once they had spread the logs far from the cage, Yukina stepped up to it and grabbed the bars, pushing as hard as she could.

"Help me," she said, glancing at each of her allies, standing either side of her, in turn.

"If you say so," the woman in black agreed.

All three grabbed at the cage and began pushing it, slowly breaking it loose from the ground. Behind them Yukina heard the village leader take position to launch an attack at their backs. She turned her head to look back, but before her eyes got that far, they paused on the eyes of the woman in black, who was already looking directly at her.

"Keep going, we've got this," she said.

Yukina gave a small frown, but before she could question the situation, the wings on the woman's back separated from her body. For a moment the woman in black was left struggling with the cage on her own as both Yukina and Rui watched a large bird take to the air and turn on the leader. The bird beat its enormous wings towards the leader of the village as it bore its massive talons at her face.

"Come on, let's make sure they can't ever do this again," Rui said, her words snapping Yukina back to the task at hand.

All three woman shoved the cage as hard as they could, ramming their shoulders into it and pushing with all their might. The bird eventually moved around to the other side of the cage, grabbing the bars and hauling back, their combined effort soon breaking the cage out of its foundations. Then Yukina, Rui and the woman in black hoisted the cage up in the air above their heads, carrying it to the cliff edge, where they flung it out of the village.

"Alright, we can leave now," Yukina said.

Rui smiled and nodded, but the woman in black held up one finger, before dashing off to recover the weapons she had laid down upon entering the village. She pulled the arrow she had shot into the leader's house down for some reason, dislodging an enormous chuck of the roof before skipping over to her abandoned weapons. She hooked her bow and quiver over each of her shoulders and then picked up her garter belt knife, before walking over to the village leader, who was on all fours on the ground. The woman in black placed her booted foot on the leader's shoulder as she reattached her garter belt, but, Yukina noticed, as she removed her foot from the leader's shoulder, she also swiped a hand past her face. She then jogged back over to join Yukina and Rui, looking very pleased with herself.

"Payment," she said with a shrug, offering no further explanation for her actions. "Lead the way."

The woman in black indicated for Yukina and Rui to depart and then beckoned to the large bird to follow. All four made their way through the still village in silence, the only sound to be heard being the crunching of snow beneath their feet and the rhythmic beating of the bird's wings. As they reached the top of the steps, Rui linked her arm through Yukina's and smiled at her. But, as they all descended the steps, Yukina found herself with less and less to smile about. At the final step Yukina stopped, Rui stumbling to a halt at her side, and she turned to her mysterious saviour, who had stopped behind her, one step up.

"What did you say to her?" Yukina asked.

The woman in black blinked, but otherwise said nothing. Her bird companion made a strange noise before grabbing the braided leather straps the woman wore over her shoulders and settling onto her back to once more give the illusion that the woman herself had wings.

"I can't imagine anything you could have said that would have made her give in to you like that!" Yukina added. "Whatever it was that you said, it was something very powerful."

"Yukina, the most powerful thing is the truth," the woman replied. "And I just let that heartless mess know that I know the truth."

"The truth?" Yukina echoed, glancing at Rui to check that she looked as confused as Yukina felt.

"You see Yukina, the word "believe" is just the word "lie" with two letters either side of it," the woman said. "And the way the ice village operates is that the leader lies to you all. And as long as you believe the lie, that way of life can always continue. But if the truth were ever known, well now, that would be the end of everything. She did as I asked because I threatened to make the truth known."

The woman swung out her leg to step down but Yukina put a hand on her stomach to halt her advance.

"You must tell me what you know," Yukina insisted. "I have a right to know."

"I-I can't tell anyone," the woman replied, looking and sounding nervous for the first time since her initial mysterious and fortuitous appearance. "I promised!"

Yukina gave her a dark look.

"I must know!" she insisted. "I will never return there, I would never want to, so I will never reveal it, but I, as an ice maiden, have a right to know what the truth is."

The woman looked as though she was considering Yukina's request.

"Please Miss," Yukina tried. "Please... I was lied to about so much of my life. I was lied to about my mother's death, about my brother, I was even lied to in order to make me come here, to my own execution. Please tell me. Please. I just want to know. Don't you think I deserve to know?"

"Oh dear, of course you do!" the woman suddenly gushed. "The truth is..."

The woman paused, taking in a deep breath before answering. As she spoke, Yukina felt her entire world fall away from her. There was no possible way what she was hearing could possibly be true: it if really were, it changed everything.

Yukina slowly turned to Rui.

"Miss Rui?" she asked, her hands curling into fists at her sides as she spoke. "Is that true? Could that be true?"

Yukina felt herself sinking again, harder still, when Rui, instead of denying it, looked thoughtful.

"Well, actually, you know, yes, it may very well be," Rui said.

Yukina sank harder and harder as Rui continued to offer a justification and explanation that was so ridiculous and yet came with a real life example that completely verified what the stranger had told her.

Yukina clenched her fists hard enough that her fingernails bit into her palms, drawing blood.

"All this time I was with Kazuma..." she growled.

"Yukina, are you alright?" the woman in black asked. "You don't seem alright."

"Of course I'm not alright!" Yukina snapped at her.

She breathed heavily, her chest and shoulders heaving, energy coursing through her veins.

"All this time..." she muttered.

* * *

"Hold on, Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled over the wind.

"Let go of me, Urameshi! You'll die too, and someone has to stay alive to save Yuki... Na..."

Kuwabara's voice petered out into the silence: for silence was what they were suddenly surrounded by. Yusuke looked about himself: the snow had stopped falling, the snow had stopped drifting, the winds had stopped howling around them, leaving them in an eerily still silence, Kuwabara hanging off the edge of a snowy cliff, clinging onto Yusuke, who was almost sitting in the snow at the edge.

"Help me up, Urameshi!" Kuwabara said.

"Right, damn, yeah," Yusuke muttered, hauling Kuwabara up to safety.

Yusuke staggered back through snow that he could now hear creaking as he waded through it, dragging Kuwabara up. Once Kuwabara had found his footing he released him and together they looked about themselves. Puu popped up out of the snow, shaking himself off: and at that moment, Yusuke realised there was an enormous shadow over the area Puu was standing. He slowly looked up, finding himself looked up at the underside of what appeared to be a literal glacier, floating in the sky.

"I can feel Yukina!" Kuwabara cried. "She's right up there!"

He pointed up at an especially steep edge of the glacier, and Yusuke looked in that direction, his eyes widening as a man-sized cage suddenly began falling from that point in the sky. He watched it plummet past them until it disappeared over the edge of the hollow in the mountain, where it would fall all the way to the ground at the very base of the mountain.

That must have been where Hiei had been thrown from, Yusuke thought to himself.

"Yukina my love, I'm coming!" Kuwabara shouted out to no-one as he began fumbling in his pockets. "Urameshi, I lost my headband of love!"

Yusuke groaned and rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure Yukina won't mind," he said. "Come on Sir Whines-a-lot, let's go get your fair maiden back."

Yusuke began what was still a struggle, wading through the snow. Kuwabara moved with renewed effort, calling out to Yukina, slowly edging ahead of Yusuke. After a few feet of wading, Yusuke noticed three figures standing at the base of an apparent set of steps leading up to the glacier above – a set of steps he guessed he and Kuwabara must have passed by at least twice, probably getting within a few feet of it, but unable to see it in the blizzard, fog and snowdrifts that had been raging before. One of the figures was Yukina, but she seemed agitated, so much so that it was obvious even from a distance. Kuwabara did not appear to have picked up on it, as he was still enthusiastically wading towards her and calling out to her.

Then a series of things happened that left Yusuke stunned. First, Yukina's demon energy flared, in a way it never had – and, frankly, Yusuke would never have thought it could – then she fixed Kuwabara with glowing eyes. Somehow – Yusuke had no idea how, and Kuwabara did not apparently find it odd – Yukina then began to sprint across the surface of the deep snow, hands clenched into fists at her sides, her movements forceful and uncharacteristically aggressive. Kuwabara opened her arms as she drew nearer, and when she launched herself into the air, Yusuke began to genuinely worry for his friend's safety. Finally, Yukina collided hard with Kuwabara throwing him back into the snow, which enveloped both of them entirely.

"Kuwabara?" Yusuke called out tentatively.

The other two figures had started hurrying over and so Yusuke made an extra effort to catch up to the point were Yukina had body-checked Kuwabara to the ground, the sound of them both groaning only making him all more concerned. Yusuke finally reached the point where they had fallen, and leaned over, peering down at them.

He opened his mouth, but words failed him.

Kuwabara was lying flat on his back, driven down deep into the snow from the force of Yukina pushing him down. She had one knee positioned either side of his waist, her tiny hands were grabbed around his shirt and she was, frantically and aggressively, kissing him all over his face.

"Damn it..." Yusuke eventually managed to say.

"Oh my!" a voice yelped at his side.

"Goodness!" a second voice added.

Yukina finally stopped her assault, sitting back up onto Kuwabara, who was whimpering and quivering beneath her, looking confused but elated, as though he wanted to ask her why she was suddenly being so overtly affectionate, but terrified she might stop if he did. She licked her lips in an exaggerated manner and then hauled him up into a sitting position, sliding into his lap as she did so.

"I missed you," she told him.

"Oh gee Yukina... I missed you too baby..." Kuwabara replied, his voice strained, his tone tentative.

Yukina nodded before pulling him closer and pressing her mouth almost ridiculously hard over his.

"This is disgusting!" Yusuke said, his face twisting as Yukina and Kuwabara engaged in what was a both animalistic and awkwardly hungry kiss. "Damn it, look at them! They don't even care that we're watching right now!"

"Well you know, you really shouldn't be staring..." a voice advised.

"I can't look away!" Yusuke cried, his hands moving into his hair. "It's like a real bad car wreck: I don't wanna see it, but it's so disgusting and unbelievable, I gotta see it!"

"Yusuke..."

"Also... It's kinda hot..."

"Yusuke Urameshi, behave yourself!"

Yusuke did then turn to the person addressing him, finding himself looking at what appeared to be a demon prostitute.

"What the hell are you?" he asked her.

After being so argumentative only moments earlier, she became suddenly quiet and po-faced at his question.

"And who the hell are you?" he asked the other woman with her.

The woman in the kimono retracted herself from him slightly, her eyes growing larger, as though she was a little afraid of him.

"Come here," Yukina said, finally removing her mouth from Kuwabara and waving a hand at the wary woman. "Come and meet Kazuma."

The woman bowed to Yusuke and then moved over to kneel down in the hollow Yukina and Kuwabara had created in the snow.

"Kazuma, this is my good friend, Miss Rui," Yukina told Kuwabara.

"Oh, uh, hey," Kuwabara said to her.

Rui smiled and nodded her head at him.

"Miss Rui was my mother's best friend," Yukina continued. "She raised me after my mother died."

"Oh, I didn't any of that," Kuwabara said.

"Miss Rui, this is Kazuma," Yukina said to her friend.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you," Rui said to him. "I never thought I would. Yukina has told me so many wonderful things about you."

"She has?" Kuwabara asked her. "You have?" he asked Yukina.

Yukina nodded, opening out her fists and sliding the flats of her palms up and down his chest.

"I told her how noble and manly and lovely you are, Kazuma," she said.

"Oh, okay..." Kuwabara muttered.

"He is very manly," Rui said.

Yusuke's jaw dropped again as Yukina's friend began eye-balling Kuwabara the same way Yukina was.

"I understand why you were so keen to get back to him, Yukina."

Yusuke's face twisted.

"I was thinking Miss Rui could come and live in the human world too," Yukina said to Kuwabara.

"Oh right, sure," Kuwabara agreed, despite clearly not even taking in what was being proposed.

"She can have my room at your father's house," Yukina suggested.

"Are you sure, Yukina?" Kuwabara asked, hints of clarity appearing in his eyes at last "I mean, that room isn't very big, and if you have to share it–"

"No, Miss Rui can take that room, and I will come and live with you, Kazuma."

Kuwabara froze.

"You said after your exams you were going to get your own apartment, nearer your school," Yukina added. "I will come with you."

"B-but Yukina, I can only afford a little studio apartment," Kuwabara pointed out.

"That's okay," Yukina replied.

"A studio apartment means there's no bedroom, though," Kuwabara explained. "It's just a bathroom and then a living room with a kitchen area. I was just gonna get a big futon, roll that out at night and sleep on that."

"That's okay."

"But... There wouldn't be a room for you...?"

"Buy a bigger futon."

Kuwabara laughed nervously.

"Um... What?" he asked in a squeaky voice.

"Buy a futon that's big enough for us to share," Yukina replied.

"Well... Um... I guess... We could..."

"I can help you. Shizuru told me I can offer to sew people's clothes for extra money. I can do that while you're at school, to help pay the bills. And then I can cook for you, and when you come home, I can feed you and then we can go to the futon together and make love."

"Holy shit!" Yusuke yelped.

"Yusuke, forgot about that, you have to listen to me, right now!"

Yusuke, far too bemused by what was happening between Yukina and Kuwabara, allowed himself to be hauled around to face away from them, only coming to his senses a little when he found himself face-to-face with the demon woman who had accompanied Yukina and Rui out of the ice village.

"We don't have much time," she said sternly.

It was a little difficult for Yusuke to take anything she said too seriously: she was dressed in a pretty revealing outfit, yet most of her face was covered with a black mask – it looked like one of those masks people wore to balls, the kind Keiko thought looked romantic – and her hair was an enormous, frizzy mess about her head.

"Hey, are you a bird?" Yusuke asked as he noticed the tips of a pair of wings protruding from her back, beneath her massive hair.

"Never mind about that, Yusuke!" she snapped. "The leader of the ice village called off the storms to allow us to escape, but she won't hold back for long, we have to get out of here before she starts it all up again!"

"Oh damn, right, yeah," Yusuke agreed.

"Wait, there's more!" she said, tightening her hold of his clothing to hold him place, facing her. "There is trouble in Spirit World. The SDF's border expansion programme has gone wrong."

"What a shocker..."

"Yusuke, this is very serious!"

"Hey, how do you know my name?"

The woman paused, her lips pursing and her eyes widening behind her mask.

"Who are you?" he asked her, the idea occurring to him that she not only knew his name, but she kept addressing him in familiar manner and tone, as though they were old friends.

"I'm a demon," she replied.

"I can see that, I meant what's your name," Yusuke responded.

"It doesn't matter what my name is," she dismissed. "What matters is that you go to Spirit World to help. Kurama is already on his way there–"

"Kurama?" Yusuke echoed.

"Yes, Kurama," she confirmed. "You must join him. I suggest, since the storms could start up again at any moment, all four of you get on Puu, Kuwabara can use his spirit sword to take you to Lord Koenma's office, and you can find out from him where you are needed most, and by the time you've done that, Kurama should have caught up to you."

She finally released Yusuke, who smoothed his hands down his shirt and jacket, staring at her through suspicious eyes.

"Wait, Shizuru is still in prison in Spirit World!" Yukina said.

The ice maiden got to her feet and moved over to stand alongside Yusuke.

"What about Shizuru?" she asked the woman. "Will she be alright?"

"Your sister's in the slammer?" Yusuke asked, leaning past the others to look back at Kuwabara.

"Yeah... We should go get her out..." Kuwabara replied as he tried to subtly cover his crotch with snow.

"Shizuru, right..." the masked woman muttered.

"We should do what she says, Yusuke!" Yukina said, tugging on Yusuke's arm. "If there is a problem in Spirit World, Shizuru could be in danger!"

"Right, okay, let's..."

Yusuke gave the woman in the mask one last suspicious look.

"Let's do what Miss Hairdo here says," he said.

She scowled at him but before he could add to his remark, her wings opened out and swept down around her, her body lifting from the snow. As she was hauled out of the snow, Yusuke realised that the wings were not actually a part of her body, rather they belonged to a large bird that was holding the woman by a set of belts she wore around her waist and over her shoulders.

"Thank you for everything you did for us, Miss!" Rui called after her.

"Yes, especially what you've done for me!" Yukina added. "You've changed my whole life! I could never repay you for all you've done!"

"Don't worry about it," the woman called back down to them. "Just get to Spirit World, you're needed there."

"Wait!" Yukina cried. "Won't you at least tell us your name? You or your friend, you both were so wonderful!"

The woman was rising higher and higher away from them, the bird carrying her pulling her back in closer against its chest until once more it appeared that the bird's wings were a part of the woman's body.

"Please!" Yukina shouted.

The woman turned and flew off at great speed, but, as she left, faint words drifted back down to those left on the ground.

"My name's Doshu."

Yusuke frowned and muttered that it was dumb name before calling on Puu. His spirit beast flew closer and Yusuke instructed Yukina and Rui to climb onto his back before he moved over to Kuwabara.

"You okay now?" he asked.

"Uh-huh..." Kuwabara replied.

"Have you uh... Cooled off yet?" Yusuke asked, smirking at the small mound of snow his friend had built over his crotch.

"It's not what it looks like..." Kuwabara muttered, lowering his head to hide the colour his face was turning.

"Come on man, let's go bust your sister out of jail," Yusuke said to him.

"Right, yeah..."

Yusuke jumped up onto Puu's back as Kuwabara picked himself up and summoned his spirit sword, slicing open a rift for them to pass through. He then leapt up to join the others on Puu's back. As Puu flew through the tear between dimensions, Yusuke openly laughed at Kuwabara, who was turning redder still when Yukina clamped onto one of his arms and Rui clamped onto the other.

Puu stopped a little abruptly as he arrived inside Koenma's office, and, as the tear closed behind them, Yusuke heard a male voice crying in alarm. Puu landed on Koenma's desk and Yusuke jumped down to the ground, finding himself face-to-face with the prince's ogre assistant, who looked both terrified and guilty.

"Hey man," Yusuke greeted him. "Where's Koenma?"

The ogre began wringing his hands together nervously and Yusuke began to grow concerned. Behind him, Kuwabara jumped down and helped down the two ice maidens. Yukina immediately ran for the door, but it would not open for her.

"Kazuma!" she cried. "The door is locked!"

Kuwabara and Rui ran over to join her and they all tried to force the doors open, but to no avail.

"Open the doors, we got stuff to do," Yusuke said to the ogre.

The ogre slowly shook his head.

"No?" Yusuke asked. "Well how about this: open the damn doors, or we'll use your bald head as a battering ram to break the doors down."

"I can't open the doors, no-one can, not now!" he wailed.

"What?" Yukina yelped, spinning around to face him.

"I was scared!" the ogre whimpered. "When you appeared like that, I activated the emergency lockdown system: there's no way in or out now, not until Lord Koenma himself comes back! Only he can deactivate it!"

"I'm not waiting around in here for his diapered ass to show up," Yusuke said. "Kuwabara, cut us another rift outta here!"

"Right, Urameshi!"

Kuwabara summoned his spirit sword, but immediately hesitated when it appeared in its more regular form.

"Wait..." he muttered, eying it over curiously. "That's not right..."

"You can't use that in here," George said in a small voice.

"What?" Yusuke yelled.

"There's no way out, that's what I was trying to tell you!" the ogre muttered. "The emergency lockdown has been designed to stop absolutely anything from getting in or out of this room! There are only two possible ways to deactivate it."

"Which are?" Kuwabara asked, banishing his spirit sword and marching over to stand alongside Yusuke.

"First of all, Koenma or the head of the SDF can deactivate it using a special code on the telecom outside the door," George replied.

"Well if it's outside the door, trying to force it obviously isn't an option," Yusuke said.

"The other way would be if Koenma was inside the room," George continued. "His spirit energy can deactivate the system."

"How?" Yusuke asked. "Can we force it?"

"I don't know."

"Damnit! So that's it? We're just stuck in here until Koenma bothers his ass to come back?"

George nodded miserably and Yusuke stomped across the room cursing.

"Wait, maybe we can call Lord Koenma to us," Yukina suggested. "You have communication mirrors, don't you?"

Yusuke and Kuwabara both nodded.

"And we can locate him from the console," Kuwabara added, pointing at Koenma's desk.

"Switch that thing on, right now!" Yusuke shouted at George. "You can at least do that, right?"

George nodded and scurried over to Koenma's desk, pressing a few buttons. An oval screen popped up from the desk, showing the view immediately outside Koenma's office.

"Can you make it show us everything?" Kuwabara asked.

"We need to see in the prison," Yukina added. "We need to see Shizuru."

"Maybe if we can see everything, all the cameras at once, one of them will show us where Koenma is," Kuwabara said.

Yusuke and Rui moved over to join the others by Koenma's desk, and all four watched on as George began keying in options, the screen splitting again and again, until soon it was divided into multiple smaller screens. Yusuke began scanning the screens for any sign of Koenma, but he soon found himself forgetting all about the leader of Spirit World as he saw something far more troubling.

Ogres laid bloodied on the ground, file rooms had been ransacked, demons of all shapes and sizes were running all through Spirit World, a cluster of ferry girls were contained in a secured room, and the prison cells were all open and empty, the whole area abandoned.

"Where's my sis?" Kuwabara asked.

"Oh no, look!" Yukina cried, pointing at one of the small screens near the bottom. "That one, can you make the view larger?"

The ogre duly typed in some more commands, and the screen Yukina was pointing at grew to fill the entire display.

It showed Shizuru, standing smoking a cigarette in a prison cell, countless demons pressed up against it leering and grabbing in at her. She was just beyond their reach, but, as they watched, the bars of Shizuru's cells turned from orange to red.

"They're breaking in...!" Yukina whimpered.

"Shit..." Yusuke muttered. "Come on man, we gotta get outta here!"

Yusuke turned to Kuwabara, who looked like he might cry.

"We'll find a way out, we not gonna let those bastards get to her, I promise!" Yusuke assured him.

Kuwabara slowly turned from him, his eyes moving back to the monitor. Yusuke, despite already knowing what was happening and almost not wanting to see it, copied his actions, watching as the bars on Shizuru's cage fizzled out of existence, and the demon hoard collapsed in on her. She disappeared from sight completely, and, for a moment, everyone watched on in stunned silence. Yukina was the first to react, charging towards the doors and trying with all her might to force them open. Kuwabara began trying to summon his dimension cutting sword – and failing – tears slipping from his eyes every time his efforts proved to be in vain. Rui ran over to try to help Yukina and Yusuke rounded on the ogre.

"Come on asshole, quit holding out on us!" he yelled at him. "There's gotta be a failsafe, another way outta this, and I'm damn well sure you know what it is, so start talking!"

"Spirit World protocol–"

"To hell with Spirit World protocol!"

"There is no way out, I swear!"

Yusuke resisted the urge to beat the ogre, as he knew that doing so would achieve nothing. He turned instead to try to encourage Kuwabara to get his sword to work.

"Come on man, focus!" he shouted at his friend. "You can do this! You've gotten us out of this sort of crap before!"

"It's not working!" Kuwabara wailed. "Shizuru!"

"Wait, look."

Yusuke turned his head sharply, glaring back over his shoulder at the blue ogre, who was standing directly in front of the screen, pointing a clawed finger at the scene playing out there.

"Something very strange is happening out there," he said. "Take a look."

Yusuke reluctantly turned around and stomped over to join the ogre: but his demeanour immediately changed when he saw what had transfixed George so.

"Hey, get over here," Yusuke said, his eyes locked on the screen, one hand beckoning the others towards himself. "All of you. Check this out."

Kuwabara ceased trying to summon his sword and he, along with Yukina and Rui, moved over to watch the screen again.

"Whoa..." Kuwabara muttered.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Hiei invites Botan out on what he supposes is, technically, a date. Shizuru is over-run by demons as they finally breach the bars of her prison cell. Out-numbered and cornered, she has little hope of even effectively fighting back: but maybe she doesn't have to, when one demon in the crowd carries her off. Shizuru is left more traumatised by what follows than she was by the prospect of fighting off a small army of demons on her own. Kurama is fighting to join the others, but he too experiences something very upsetting, something that he, like Shizuru, appreciates is a sign of something far more sinister. Meanwhile, back in Demon World, the SDF have been overwhelmed entirely, and Ryuhi is being forced to watch on as her fellow soldiers struggle and some less combat-ready members of Spirit World are cruelly tortured. (Chapters are getting so long...) **Chapter 16a: Stop**


	16. Stop

**A/N:** Slight warning for this chapter, things get a little dark in the second scene, but bear with me, this fic maybe has it's angsty moments, but nothing graphically sinister.

* * *

 **Chapter 16a: Stop**

Hiei raised his fist to knock on Botan's door, but paused, before retracting his hand: for the third time. It was not that he was nervous about asking her if she was ready to go for dinner – he was hungry, she probably was too, getting something to eat was the logical thing for them to do together – it was just that the situation he was in – asking Botan to join him at a fine restaurant for dinner – was basically asking her on a date. Or at least, that was what Yusuke called it when he took Keiko somewhere nice for a meal. Yusuke had also explained some sort of strange set of rules for dinner-based dates, an odd equation where level of money spent, type of restaurant and choice of clothes determined how explicitly sexual you could be with your date afterwards, but they had become too complex for Hiei, who had ended falling asleep halfway through the explanation.

"Hiei?"

Hiei gasped sharply through his nostrils, his back straightening instantly and his eyes widening.

"What are you doing out there, Hiei?"

Hiei glared at the door between himself and Botan, silently wishing he had suppressed his energy: she must have sensed that he had been standing at her door for the past few minutes.

"I can see you through the peep-hole, Hiei."

Hiei's face twisted at her vaguely suggestive choice of words, but he quickly neutralised his expression again when he remembered that she was obviously right on the other side of the door, spying through at him, and would see the look on his face.

"I would invite you in," she said. "But I just stepped out of the shower. I'm still wet."

Hiei swallowed hard.

"Can you imagine if you had just let yourself into my room while I was still in the shower?" she asked.

Hiei grunted.

"I didn't lock the door, you could have walked in here any time you wanted to..." Botan added.

"That's idiotic," Hiei warned her. "You're not in Spirit World any more, woman!"

"You could walk in here right now."

Hiei opened his mouth, but he could not even tell why, as he could not even think of a suitable reply to Botan's last remark.

"Can you imagine what would have happened if you had walked in on me, naked and soapy wet in the shower?" she asked.

Hiei twitched.

"Because I can."

"Really?" Hiei found himself asking.

"Yes. Remember what I wrote in my notebook...?"

Hiei took a moment to remember the unexpectedly explicitly sexual turn the story in Botan's notebook had taken after she had alleged that he had happened upon her mid-shower.

"I never did get the chance to read you the ending of that story," Botan purred. "But if you come in here right now, maybe we can act it out."

Hiei's hand was on the door handle before she had even finished speaking.

* * *

Ryuhi pushed back as hard as she could, but to no avail. She was pinned down – literally – beneath a demon she ought to be strong enough to repel: but constant battle and energy exertion from barrier-building had left her weakened. And so, held down, she was forced to watch as the demon holding Koenma by his clothing dangled him out over the edge of a cliff, laughing as the prince screamed and cried and literally begged for mercy.

But that was not even the worse thing that was happening.

Every other member of the SDF was as incapacitated as Ryuhi herself was, all tired and weak, all suffering from errors in judgement they had all made, all helpless to stop the non-strop stream of demons from invading Spirit World, all helpless to stop a demon from threatening to drop their prince from a great height, all helpless to stop an enormous demon from violating a ferry girl.

Of everything happening, Ryuhi found watching Ayame's fate the most difficult.

The plucky ferry girl, despite her most valiant efforts, had become overwhelmed by a giant man, who was literally holding her down with one hand, which was large enough to cover almost her entire torso. His other hand was pulling open her kimono, exposing her legs. She tried to press her knees together, but Ryuhi already knew that would mean nothing, her strength pitiful compared to that of her attacker's.

"You can't...!" Ayame gasped, her voice strained as one of his large fingers was pressing on her throat, restricting her breathing. "I'm too small, you have to stop!"

"Don't worry about that," the demon said, abandoning his efforts to open her kimono further and moving his hand into his belt to produce a knife. "If you don't have a hole big enough for me, I'll just make one."

Ryuhi froze, but, when she saw blood splatter over Ayame's face, she tightly shut her eyes, inwardly cursing herself for being too cowardly to even look as a terrible fate befell someone so brave, someone who had tried so hard to help her when she had failed her entire world by letting the SDF's operation get out of control.

* * *

Shizuru was nearly finished her cigarette and her timing had been perfect, she thought to herself wryly, as the bars of her cell began changing colour, just as all the others had. Despite the damage they did to themselves by touching the bars and despite the fact that the bars were coming down anyway, several of the demons stretched their arms into her cell and tried to grab at her. She took one last drag her cigarette as her bars turned red, before stubbing out her cigarette end onto one of the hands reaching in towards her.

Her bars fell and the demons crowded in on her.

Hands grabbed at her, she was scratched, pushed and squeezed. She kicked and punched and struggled, but with so many crowding around her, as soon as she freed one of her limbs, it was caught again by another attacker. Her back hit the stone wall, only further restricting her movements: and that was when something bizarre happened.

"Ooh, look what I found! It's the mysterious, valuable, treasured statue of... Ooba-Gooba!"

The demons around Shizuru all halted their assault, but even Shizuru herself was too confused by what she had heard to use the advantage she was afforded by the bizarre distraction to fight back.

"Oh my, I hope nobody tries to take this very valuable statue from me!" the stupid, slow amnd exaggerated voice said again. "Whatever shall I do if somebody steals this from me? Oh no!"

The demons pressing in on Shizuru slowly began to back off, wandering back out of her cell and back out of the prison altogether to investigate what appeared to be going on. As the last demon moved out of the prison, Shizuru edged forwards, moving to the limit of her own cell to peer out towards the exit. She could just make out a crowd of demons, but could not see what they were watching. She stepped out further, taking herself into the corridor between the cells.

And then a single, lightning fast demon swooped in over her head, scaly fingers gripping painfully into her upper arms.

"Hey!" Shizuru yelled.

"It's alright Shizuru, I'm your friend. I'm here to help you."

"Wh-what?"

Shizuru yelped as she was lifted from the ground, her body levitating, her weight caught painfully against the scaly fingers holding her arms. As she was moved out of the prison she looked up, seeing a large bird, with a broad pink chest and mighty blue wings.

"Let me go!" she demanded.

"Relax," the bird answered her, pulling her up high into the air.

Shizuru looked back down, first realising that she no longer wanted the bird to simply release her, as the fall would be devastating, and then also noticing that, from a height, she could finally see over the crowds of demons to what it was they were so transfixed by.

A woman with big, wild hair, dressed in black, was holding what looked like a brass garden statue of a cherub peeing in her arms. As Shizuru watched, the woman thread an arrow through one of the statue's arms and quickly shot the arrow into the prison, launching the statue back in there. The crowd of demons turned and ran after it, and the woman followed them, almost herding them back into the prison. As soon as they were all inside, she rapidly typed on the keypad outside the prison, the glowing energy bars dropping down across the entrance, locking the demons in: and as the keypad controlled the bars, the keypad they had used to gain entry to the prison, was beyond their reach, they were truly trapped, with no way out.

"Stop!" the woman shouted up towards Shizuru.

She whipped out another arrow and aimed it up directly at Shizuru, the arrow glowing as demon energy flowed into it.

"Hey!" Shizuru cried.

The woman released her arrow and the bird yanked Shizuru back out of its path at the last possible second. Shizuru looked up as the arrow sunk into an approaching bat demon. He groaned and slouched over, falling down in front of Shizuru, the energised arrow in his chest rising up and right out of his body. Shizuru reached out and grabbed the arrow, something telling her that she ought to: but the second she did, a shock ran up the length of her entire arm.

"Wait..." she said.

"Don't stop, go, go go!" the demon archer shouted at the bird.

"Right!" the bird agreed.

"No!" Shizuru cried as the bird began flying on, taking her away from the area. "This isn't right!"

"I'm taking you somewhere safe," the bird assured her. "Just relax."

"Relax?" Shizuru echoed. "What about this?"

She held out the arrow to indicate her point.

"Oh, thank you for catching that for me," the bird said, reaching down its head and snatching the arrow from Shizuru's hand.

"Hey!" Shizuru protested.

"Now brace yourself, I've heard the ride down is a bit bumpy, but you should have a safe landing. Good luck!"

Shizuru cried out as the bird opened its talons and released her, leaving her falling through a set of large plastic flaps and into a square hole. She plummeted down a metal chute, her long hair flying up into the air above her, before her back finally collided with something that immediately gave way: two interlocking metal flaps that fell open, sending her into a bright room, where she shortly landed hard on something welcomingly cushioned and soft.

"Shizuru?" she heard her brother say.

Shizuru clawed at her hair to clear it from her face, and she found herself sitting in Koenma's throne, at his desk, looking out across his office, where she was accompanied by George the ogre, her brother, Yusuke, Puu, Yukina and a woman who looked like another ice maiden.

"Shizuru!" Yukina cried, hurrying over to her side. "Are you alright?"

The ice maiden placed both her hands on Shizuru's arm and smiled up at her warmly.

"I-I don't know..." Shizuru replied.

"Sis!" Kuwabara yelled, before appearing at Shizuru's other side and shamelessly grabbing his arms around her, pressing his cheek against hers. "You're alive!"

Shizuru sat stiffly and numbly as her brother and Yukina fussed over her, with an ogre and a melancholy woman in a kimono watching on a few feet away.

"Hey Shizuru, you okay?"

Shizuru moved her eyes to Yusuke, who seemed to be the only person in the room aware that she was clearly not alright.

"For someone who just escaped turning into a demon's dinner, you don't look so happy," he added.

"You didn't feel it..." she answered him.

"Feel what?" Yukina asked her.

Shizuru looked at the monitor in front of herself, seeing an image of the prison she had been trapped in mere minutes before, suddenly packed with bodies, all trapped behind bars they had no control over in their new position inside the prison proper.

"Something really bad is happening out there and something much worse is coming," she said sadly.

"What are you talking about, Shizuru?" Kuwabara asked her.

"You can't feel it?" she asked, turning to her brother incredulously.

"Uh, yeah, Kuwabara's only really been feeling one thing lately," Yusuke commented.

"Huh?" Kuwabara echoed.

"I said you've been a bit distracted, ever since we met up with Yukina and Rui," Yusuke answered.

"That's not true!" Kuwabara argued. "I've been paying attention! I've been focused!"

"He's only focused on one thing right now," Yusuke told Shizuru. "And it rhymes with "treesome"."

"What?" Kuwabara echoed.

"So what's up?" Yusuke asked Shizuru.

"Those two who rescued me... They shouldn't be together," she replied. "What they're doing... It seems like it's good, because we're benefitting from it, but it's bad. I can feel something horrible coming, and the more they fight together, the worse it gets. There's a shadow hanging over them, and when that shadow falls... I feel like we're all gonna lose something really important."

The others remained silent then, all looking at each other thoughtfully. Shizuru stood up out of Koenma's throne and approached George.

"Can you change the view?" she asked him, pointing at the screen. "Can you show us where they went?"

George nodded and moved over to the keypad on the pop-up dashboard on Koenma's desk, typing in commands to once more split the screen into several smaller screens, showing them the view from multiple cameras around Spirit World.

"Stop!" Shizuru said. "Right there..."

The others moved over for a closer look, all of them but Shizuru smiling.

"Hey, it's Kurama!" Kuwabara said. "He's an expert at breaking into places, he'll get us outta here!"

"Wait, how did you get in here, Shizuru?" Yusuke asked.

The group all looked up at the roof where Shizuru had fallen into the room.

"The emergency chute," George offered. "It's there so that Koenma can return to his office even if it has already been locked down."

"Can't we open it back up and get out that way?" Kuwabara asked.

George shook his head and Yusuke sighed.

"Well at least Kurama finally caught up to us..." Yusuke muttered.

* * *

Spirit World was suspiciously quiet, and Kurama had gained entry to the temple without either being stopped by security or needing to unlock any doors. Within seconds of entering the temple, his attention was drawn to an area with a large monitor, which was split into multiple smaller screens, each showing a different view of Spirit World. It was clearly live recordings from surveillance cameras, but before he could even study them for a clue to what he sought, he could smell – all over the control panel next to the monitor – the same scent that coated the arrow he still held.

It was her. She had been there. Recently.

Kurama quickly scanned through the views available, noticing a room full of ferry girls, various rooms with cowering ogres, and that the high security prison area – the area Hiei had been held in after his initial troubles with Spirit World – was packed full of bodies. It was chaos, but there was something far worse happening.

He had to find her before it was too late.

With no other clue or indication to act upon, Kurama did his best to follow her scent, soon finding himself in a hallway that stretched up three floors high: her scent got very faint there, but it appeared as though she had moved upwards, and so he cracked his rose whip upwards, wrapping the end around the banister of the walkway at the top floor and then quickly climbing up it. He found himself standing outside a locked room, but her scent was once more strong there. She had been inside the room, but she had moved on again.

And then he felt it.

A surge of demon energy, empowered by a secondary source of demon energy, amplified by rising emotion.

Kurama began to run along the walkway, following it to its completion, overlooking a large atrium, where he finally caught up to her. He tried calling out to her, but she was either wilfully ignoring him, or else deafened to his cries by her rising desire to fight.

"Please stop!" he yelled.

She hesitated, looking from side to side, as though she had heard a hint of his voice, but, as another demon appeared, she did not hesitate to tear out an arrow from her quiver – an arrow just like the one Kurama held, just like the one that had saved him from the okui – and load it into her bow. She took aim at the demon and her partner – a large blue and pink bird – grabbed onto her shoulders, their combined demon energy glowing around them and focusing into the arrow. She fired her shot, hitting the approaching demon in the centre of the chest, the arrow driving through him with so much force, it continued out through his back, still glowing and crackling with energy, until it hit into the forehead of another demon, pinning his corpse to a wall, which cracked upon the impact.

"Stop!" Kurama shouted at her as loudly as he possibly could.

"Kurama?"

She turned towards him instantly, her light eyes fixing onto him, the determination sparkling there looking all the more radiant against the black velvet mask she wore.

"You have to stop what you're doing!" he shouted down to her. "Please!"

She nodded and gave a hand signal to the bird on her shoulders. Kurama, breathless but relieved that he had stopped her – though if the power behind her attacks were any indication, he was already too late – waited for her to fly up to him. Her avian assistant grabbed at belts she wore over her shoulders, lifting her into the air and turning her to face him fully.

"Yusuke and Kuwabara are with Koenma, in his office," she told him. "I put Shizuru there too – oh and Yukina and Rui and Puu are there too – join them, then come and help us."

"What?" Kurama echoed.

"The SDF have lost control of their border expansion efforts," she replied. "That's why there are demons in Spirit World. I have to help them."

Kurama shook his head.

"Don't do that," he said. "You mustn't do that!"

"Yes I must," she flatly replied. "Meet with the others, then come and help me. We need to get Spirit World back in order."

"No, don't go! Please don't do this!"

Kurama reached out his free hand in vain as she turned from him and took off, rapidly leaving his sight. The bird carrying her was fast and strong, and Kurama already knew that chasing her alone would not be wise, and so instead, he took her initial advice and ran back to Koenma's office, walking into the door only to be thrown back across the hallway.

Kurama was repelled so forcefully by the barrier surrounding Koenma's office doors, his back had hit the opposite wall, and he was left sitting on the ground.

"Who's out there?"

Kurama quickly got to his feet again.

"Yusuke?" he asked.

"Oh, hey Kurama," Yusuke's voice answered him. "Hey, there's a panel out there on the wall, right?"

Kurama looked about himself before locating a panel on the wall, which was also the source of Yusuke's voice. He moved over to it, finding that it was the closest point he could get to the doors into Koenma's office without being frazzled by the protective barrier.

"Yusuke, is Koenma in there with you?" he asked.

"No, and we're stuck in here, thanks to the trigger-happy troll in here," Yusuke replied. "He said that panel out there can deactivate this lockdown though: any chance you can force it?"

Kurama took a moment to study the panel.

"No, and I'm afraid I will have to leave you to figure it out for yourself," he concluded.

"Hey, wait right there, fox boy!" Yusuke snapped. "What the hell are you talking about? You just got here!"

"I came here for your assistance, I cannot waste time trying to tamper with a foolproof security system," Kurama replied. "Something very bad is happening, and we must act now – we may already be too late – but I have to try."

"What are you talking about?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama looked down at the arrow in his hand.

"Yusuke, do you know what a masquerader is?" he asked.

"No," Yusuke replied. "Hey, we can see you on camera – what's that thing you're holding onto?"

Kurama looked about himself until he had located the camera Yusuke was watching him through.

"It's an arrow," he explained, holding it up towards the camera.

"Like the ones Miss Doshu had!" Yukina's voice commented.

"Yusuke, did you see the demon wielding these arrows?" Kurama asked the camera.

"Yeah, sure we did," Yusuke replied. "She helped us get Yukina back from the ice village."

"And she saved Shizuru, too!" Yukina added.

Kurama tightened his grip of the arrow again.

"You shouldn't have let her do that, Yusuke," he said, his voice low and solemn. "As we speak, she is continuing out to aid the SDF in their battle to gain ground in Demon World, and we must not allow her to do that either. It invites the happening of an irreversible tragedy."

"Tragedy?" Yusuke asked. "Hey now Kurama, if you're gonna tell us scary crap, at least cut the cryptic vagueness and come to the point. This is me you're talking to here, buddy."

Kurama nodded.

"I believe we are dealing with a masquerader, Yusuke," he said. "She has taken the life of one of our friends, and now she seeks to seal her fate: and if we allow this madness to continue, that is exactly what will happen. And once that is done, there will be no going back. Not ever."

* * *

Koenma yelped as the demon dangling him over the sheer drop let him slip a little, until he was hanging by just his cloak. In that position, his jet-pack was exposed, and activating it, taking himself to safety, was a viable option: but how could he, the leader of Spirit World, in good conscience, abandon the SDF – how could he abandon Ayame – at such a dire time? He looked down again at the giant demon pinning down Ayame and swiping aside her kimono. As Koenma watched, Ayame's attacker produced a knife, and, for a horrible moment, everything went very still.

Then blood sprayed out, splatting over the back of the large hand holding Ayame down and even onto her face.

The demon standing over her swayed a little as the sparkling arrow that had struck him in the back of the head, it's heart-shaped arrowhead protruding through one of his eyes, continued sliding slowly forwards, driven on by the incredible power that had fired it.

Ayame wrestled with his hand and managed to scramble out from under him an instant before he collapsed dead on the ground. She staggered away from him and a flying demon swept around in the air above her head, facing directly towards Koenma. His jaw dropped as he saw a woman, wild hair flying out in every direction, aiming an arrow at something just above him. She fired two shots, seconds apart: the first killed the demon holding Koenma and the second appeared to be coming towards Koenma himself: but as the demon holding him fell down, releasing him, the second arrow harmlessly pierced his cloak, pinning him to the face of the cliff.

Pinned to the cliff face, Koenma watched on, frozen in disbelief, as Momiji, a red-haired ferry girl, swept towards the flying archer, dropping a handful of arrows into the quiver over her shoulder. The flying demon nodded at her before giving a hand signal, at which point her wings detached and she began falling towards the ground. Before her feet hit the ground, she had shot another demon, and as soon as her feet did hit the ground, she raced towards Ayame, helping her straighten up her kimono. Ayame, scared but apparently – just like Koenma – too confused to argue, stiffly accepted the offer of assistance.

Koenma screamed as a shadow raced in towards him, stopping just short of him and taking the form of a large bird, with long, strong legs.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help you, Sir," it said to him in an eerily human voice.

He opened his mouth to question the situation, but his words turned into another scream when the bird grabbed the shoulders of his outfit and pulled him forwards, tearing his cloak, his weight soon catching against the bird's hold. The bird then turned around and flew away, with Koenma facing back the way they had come. He screamed and wanted to complain, but soon found himself stopped, dangling in the air, his feet just inches off the ground, facing Ayame and the archer.

"Put your arms around him, right now!" the archer shouted at Ayame.

"What?" Ayame echoed.

"Don't argue with me, do it!" the archer snapped back at her.

Ayame threw her around Koenma's waist and he laughed nervously.

"Put your arms around Ayame, Lord Koenma," the archer instructed him.

"Whuh... But..."

"Put your arms around her right now, and hold on as tight as you can!"

"Eh–"

"Do not argue with me!"

Koenma, mostly out of fear, threw his arms around Ayame's shoulders and they clung onto each. The bird released him and he fell against Ayame, who started to collapse under the sudden introduction of his weight against her: but before they could topple over entirely, he heard a strange noise at his back, and, an instant later, he and Ayame were screaming through the air.

Somehow, his jet-pack had been activated.

"Don't let go, Ayame, I don't want to fall!" he wailed.

"But Sir, I'm the one who will fall if either of us lets go!" she pointed out.

Koenma could barely even think straight to even consider arguing back with her. His jet pack had been programmed to do just one thing: take him, as quickly as possible, back to his office. He had never actually had to use the emergency chute entrance before, and he hoped it still worked as it had been designed to.

And he hoped it would still work with Ayame clinging to him.

Seconds later, Koenma and Ayame reached the opening of the chute, and the jet pack on his back died instantly, dropping them through the one-way flaps and into the metal chute beyond. They fell fast, shortly bursting through another set of one-way flaps and crashing into Koenma's throne. Thanks to him initially having been higher up than her, Ayame landed sitting in the throne, and Koenma – still in his adult form – landed sitting in her lap.

"Koenma, what kept you?" Koenma heard Yusuke ask.

Koenma blinked away his initial confusion before looking around his office, surprised to find that his ogre assistant was not the only one there waiting for him.

"This dumb ass locked us in here!" Shizuru said, pointing an accusing finger at a cowering George.

"Let us out!" Kuwabara added.

"Oh, right..." Koenma muttered.

He nodded awkwardly at Ayame before climbing off of her and quickly keying in the over-ride to deactivate the emergency lockdown. The moment he had done so, Yusuke and Kuwabara each hauled open a door of his office and Kurama hurried into the room.

"Koenma, good, you're here, and not before time," Kurama said to him.

"What's going on?" Ayame asked.

"Koenma, are you familiar with the masquerade class demons?" Kurama asked Koenma, approaching him with a very colourful arrow in his hand.

"Yes, they are probably the one class of demon I am the most familiar with," Koenma confirmed. "They cause us in Spirit World the most problems the most frequently. At least half of the arrests the Border Patrol make are masqueraders. Is there one in the living world right now? Is she trying to take someone's life?"

Koenma started to grow worried when he saw the sombre look in Kurama's eyes.

"I'm afraid it's gone a little beyond that," the fox demon quietly replied.

Koenma looked down at the arrow Kurama was holding, the sight of the heart-shaped arrowhead telling him it was the same type of arrow the archer who had rescued him and Ayame had been using. He slowly reached out to take it from Kurama, a shuddering gasp escaping his lips as he felt the traces of energy still lingering within it.

"How has this happened?" he asked. "When did this happen?"

"I was hoping you could shed some light on both of those questions," Kurama wryly replied. "But nevertheless, it has happened, and we have to act."

"I saw her..." Koenma said slowly. "Back there..."

"She's still fighting?" Kurama asked.

Koenma nodded numbly.

"Then..." Kurama began.

"The power she had..." Koenma said.

"Are we already too late?" Kurama asked.

Koenma closed his fist around the arrow.

"I believe so, but that doesn't mean we can't fight it," he said. "Yusuke, Kuwabara, let's go."

"Wait!" Shizuru said, stepping forwards. "I'm coming too!"

Koenma paused as he regarded Shizuru, her presence there bringing the dawn of another, horrifying idea to his mind.

"We must hurry," Kurama insisted.

"Ayame, stay here with the ogre," Koenma told the ferry girl. "Everyone else, with me. We have to fight this."

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Hiei really is falling under Botan's spell (UH OH). The SDF have two new allies – both demon – but somehow these demons are being incredibly intelligent and helpful. Kurama and Koenma theorise that something very bad has happened, causing irreparable damage, and the group are forced to split up and make some decisions about how to proceed. **Chapter 17a: Capable**


	17. Incapable

**Chapter 17a: Incapable**

Hiei opened the door and stepped into Botan's room, both irritated that she had been stupid enough not to lock her room door and excited by the idea that she had deliberately left it open for him to walk in on her as she showered. As he stepped into the room, he wondered why he had wasted time second-guessing himself in his own room: but the second his eyes landed on Botan, her hair wet and limp about her head, one hand clutching a towel by her chest, vital areas of her body only barely concealed from his view, every doubt and fear he had leapt right back to the forefront of his mind.

"You seem nervous Hiei," she commented. "Don't worry, it will be my first time too."

"Hn," Hiei scoffed, trying to keep his cool despite his grunt coming out a few notes higher in pitch then his usual tone. "What makes you think this would be my first–"

Hiei immediately stopped talking when Botan dropped the towel, and a second later, he abruptly turned around, breathless and sweating.

"Oopsie..." she said behind him. "I appear to have dropped my towel. How embarrassing. Here I am, standing before a man like you, naked, wet–"

"Stop."

Hiei's throat was dry to the point that he had barely managed to speak.

"Don't you…" he began. "Don't you want to have dinner first? Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Aren't we supposed to… "Date" before we…?"

Hiei, who had been twitching and clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides, became very still when Botan put her hands on his shoulders and leaned in close to his back.

"Oh Hiei, you're very chivalrous for a demon," she cooed.

"This isn't about chivalry," he replied, his body starting to twitch and quiver again when she moved the tips of her index fingers to his hairline at the back of his neck, lightly teasing his bare skin there. "I need to know that you're not just… You're a spirit, it's very strange that you are interested in a demon in this way – usually humans and spirits who pursue demons in this manner go after demons who are softer, or more – like Kurama. Why would you chose me over Kurama? Or even Yusuke?"

"Hiei, you shouldn't even need to ask such questions," she casually replied.

"But that question is the most important one," Hiei insisted. "I'm more trouble, I'm a less sensible choice. The only obvious reason why you would chose me would be as a defiance against Spirit World. If you're just using me to anger Koenma then… Be honest with me."

Botan slid her hands from his shoulders and Hiei instantly relaxed.

"You're right, Hiei," she said.

He nodded.

"This makes more sense," he said. "You are using me to prove a point."

"No, Hiei, it's not like that at all."

Hiei turned around, keeping his eyes down at the floor until he had located Botan's towel. He then grabbed it up and held it out towards her, turning his head from her until she had finished shuffling about. When he turned back, she had, finally, wrapped herself up in the towel, and again he found himself relaxing.

"I meant you were right that we should have dinner first," she said. "You shouldn't be nervous with me Hiei, but, for what it's worth, I'm very nervous too: I've never been with a man before. The only time I've ever even seen a man naked has been by accident. I've never really felt the touch of a man's hand… Couldn't you tell by how unrealistic the fantasies I wrote about you were?"

Hiei looked up at the roof, silently hoping that Botan would not realise that he honestly had no idea what was realistic and what was unrealistic when it came to sexual relationships since he, just like her, only had imagination to guide him.

"Get dressed, we'll have dinner," he muttered.

"Alright, that sounds just lovely."

Hiei nodded awkwardly and let himself out of her room, closing the door and leaning back against it before sliding down to sit on the floor.

He had no idea what he was doing.

* * *

"She has no idea what she's doing," Koenma said.

"Okay, so does anyone wanna enlighten the rest of us about what the hell is going on?" Yusuke asked.

"We've been the victims of a masquerader," Koenma replied, rounding a corner and starting down another hall of the temple.

The group were all moving at a brisk pace, Koenma and Kurama leading the way, followed by Yusuke and Shizuru, then Kuwabara, Yukina and Rui, and finally Puu following on in the rear.

"A masquerader is a specific type of demon," Kurama added. "Their power is that of masquerade: they are not typically powerful fighters, but they are masters of illusions, deception and manipulation. They take lives – usually human – and seek to seal the fate of their victims. When they cannot find a victim, they survive by using their charms on other demons. Most of them live in Tsumi City, and most of them work in the club there."

"Tsumi City?" Yusuke echoed.

"Oh hey, that's the place we went to, Urameshi," Kuwabara pointed out. "I saw it on a sign. You called it "scum city" though."

"Oh, right, the place with the strip club where the dancers will do anything you ask them to, right," Yusuke agreed.

"Urameshi…" Kuwabara grumbled.

"If you pay them enough, they will do anything," Yusuke said. "And I mean anything…"

"Yes, those dancers are all masquerade class demons, Yusuke," Kurama said.

"So?" Yusuke asked. "Like you said, they're pretty weak. I mean, sure, that chick in hot pants with messy hair did look like one of them, but why is that such a bad thing?"

"Because she is Uso," Kurama replied.

"Uso?" Yukina asked. "But she said her name was Doshu."

"She doesn't know what she's saying," Koenma replied.

"She's saying whatever she has to right now," Kurama added.

"I still don't have a clue what's going on right now…" Yusuke muttered.

"Uso is trying to take the life of one of our friends, and we have to stop her before she does it," Kurama answered him.

"Unless we're already too late," Koenma added.

Yusuke glanced at Shizuru, the miserable look on her face suggesting that they were already too late.

"Every time she fights, she takes one step closer to sealing her fate," Kurama said. "Which is why we have to make her stop."

* * *

Ryuhi opened her eyes again, expecting to see the giant demon devouring Ayame: but instead she saw Ayame making an escape, her attacker falling down dead. Confused, the weary SDF soldier moved her eyes to the sky, where she saw something she rarely did: two demons working together in perfect harmony. An archer, carried by a large bird, was lining up a shot, the power of her weapon amplified by the injection of demon energy from both her and her avian partner. She rapidly shot two arrows, one killing the demon that had been about to drop Koenma from the clifftop, and the other pinning Koenma to the cliff-face by his cloak to halt his fall.

It was very strange that two demons would suddenly want to help Spirit World, especially against such odds, where the demons clearly had the upper hand, and when the fight was for Spirit World to forcibly take land from Demon World. And, as though to only make the situation all the more bizarre and incomprehensible, a red-haired ferry girl flew over to join the archer, dropping additional arrows into her quiver.

"Thank you, Momiji," the archer said to her. "Keep it up."

Then all three parted ways, the ferry girl moving to extract the arrow that had taken down Ayame's attacker, and the archer falling to the ground as her bird partner left her. As she fell, she fired off another shot and took out another demon, before landing and moving immediately to assist Ayame. Beyond her, her bird assistant pulled Koenma free and brought him over to her. The archer then forced Ayame and Koenma to hold onto each other before signalling her bird to depart and activating Koenma's jet pack, which promptly launched him into the sky, clinging to Ayame and screaming.

"Get the bag, keep going," the archer told her bird partner. "I'll drive them back and bring the rear-guard forward."

"Right!" the bird agreed, before racing off.

The archer waved a hand above her head, and Ryuhi's eyes widened: she was guiding an army out of Spirit World.

The demon holding Ryuhi down released her and fled and she was finally able to sit up and watch in dumbfounded amazement at the scene unfolding back towards Spirit World. Led by two demons – the archer and her bird – the ogre guards and a small number of ferry girls were fighting back demons. Further behind them, SDF soldiers, split off into the pairs they had been assigned in Ryuhi's B-plan, were rebuilding the barrier, in the correct, arcing shape over the newly claimed land.

"Rinbai, Shun-Jun, 34-west, 74-south, go!" the archer shouted.

Rinbai and Shun-Jun looked even more confused than Ryuhi felt, standing around, each with a half-eaten snack-pack in their hands.

"Don't argue with me!" the archer yelled at them. "Get back into your positions right now! Commence barrier-building and push forward, Sorai and Oho will join up to you – go!"

The two SDF soldiers eyed her over before taking a moment to check the group following her.

"Leave the fighting to us, just get on with getting the barrier back up!" the archer told them.

Apparently accepting her logic, they moved into the position she had given – the position from Ryuhi's B-plan – and began building a barrier. The archer turned to Ryuhi and aimed an arrow at her – Ryuhi, weak and confused, did not make any attempt to evade it. The arrow whistled past her, energy radiating off of it and leaving her hair crackling with static.

"Move, idiot!"

Ryuhi looked up towards the source of the voice that had just addressed her, finding a shadow falling over her, only then realising that the arrow had been intended for a demon sneaking up on her.

"Wow, who put you in charge?"

Ryuhi hissed as something grabbed her arms painfully and hoisted her into the air before promptly dropping her again, leaving her to fall onto all fours just out of harm's way as her would-be attacker collapsed to the ground.

"Maybe Spirit World should have given your job to someone competent, someone capable, hm?"

Ryuhi turned her head to the source of the voice berating her, finding herself looking into a pair of fuchsia eyes, staring at her intensely. Ryuhi lifted herself up and sat back onto her heels.

"You look familiar…" she commented as the bird demon edged closer to her.

"Nice job you're doing here," the bird sarcastically replied. "Really nice. Really sticking to that clever plan you made – you remember that clever plan you made that was so clever? The one you thought was too clever for some people, hm?"

Ryuhi looked back over her shoulder, and weakly pointed at the progress being made to actually bring things into line with her back-up plan: but before she could say as much, something smacked into the side of her face. She awkwardly caught it as it fell, turning back to look at the bird demon, still glaring up at her.

"I got you a blue one," she said, pointing one of her taloned toes at the snack pack in Ryuhi's hands. "That's your favourite, right?"

Ryuhi looked down at the snack pack, nodding numbly.

"But how…?" she asked faintly.

"Because some of us are competent, some of us are capable," the bird replied, spreading her wings and lifting herself up to be level with Ryuhi's face. "But some of us aren't dumb enough to write out our plans in plain sight for any enemy to get their hands on and use against us: some of us are smart enough to use a code when writing down secret information into our notebooks!"

Ryuhi blinked and recoiled as the bird spun around, slapping her across the face with her tail, before flying off again. She watched the bird go, moving off to rejoin the archer, who was shooting down a small cluster of flying demons. The archer did not falter as a large, bulky demon charged towards her, and the bird smoothly grabbed the giant demon, claws biting into flesh to gain grip, and lifted him up over the archer's head, arrows flying above and then below him as the archer continued her assault on the airborne invaders. The bird turned around sharply, dipping over to one side and swinging the giant demon around until he was flying through the air horizontally, whereupon the bird slammed him into the cliff-face. He fell to the ground, broken rocks falling onto him.

The archer had taken out all the flying demons and hit one more approaching on foot before running out of arrows, at which point she tore out a vicious, serrated knife from a holster at her thigh and pounced onto the large demon her bird companion had taken down, stabbing the knife into his open mouth as he yelled at her, using the cruel teeth of the knife to tear up through his head and end his life.

The archer paused, holding up her blood-soaked blade. The bird moved to hover over her and they shared a brief conversation, the moment only ending as the red-haired ferry girl from earlier appeared again, dropping a handful of arrows into the archer's quiver. All three then parted ways, the ferry girl returning to her task of scavenging arrows that were reusable, the bird moving off to gather up fallen demon corpses and carry them back out beyond the limits of where the new barrier would be, dropping them back into Demon World proper, and the archer started towards Ryuhi.

Ryuhi watched the woman approaching her. She was probably about a C-class in terms of power, but she had been cleverly employing the power boost of a partner demon – the mouthy bird she had with her – to elevate herself comfortably into the upper end of the B-class spectrum: and at that level, she was out-classing almost all of the demons that had encroached the SDF's efforts and pressed into Spirit World.

It was odd that she was, at rest, a C-class demon however: masqueraders were usually in the lower to mid-range of D-class.

"Here you are," she said, taking the snack pack from Ryuhi's hands and tearing it open. "Eat up, we need you back on your feet. Only you and your officers can get the barrier back up."

She pushed the pack back into Ryuhi's hands and then moved her hands up towards her mouth. Ryuhi, under slight duress, squeezed some of the gel into her mouth, only stopping when the archer took her hands away to allow her to freely feed herself.

"Who are you?" she asked as the woman selected another arrow from her quiver.

"I'm an ally," she replied, loading the arrow into her bow.

Ryuhi noticed then that the arrows were already bound with feathers from the archer's partner, already amplified with a secondary source of demon energy.

"I've never seen such a strong bond between a demon and a partner demon before," Ryuhi commented.

"We're more than partners," the archer replied, taking aim with her arrow. "We're friends."

She fired the shot with a "thoop" sound, a cry behind Ryuhi telling her another victim had fallen to her strange ally.

"I've also never seen a masquerader fight," Ryuhi added. "I've met plenty of your kind before, but usually I find you just before or immediately after you've taken the life of a human female."

"I have to fight," the masquerader replied. "It's all there is left for me to do now."

She scanned about herself, satisfying herself that she could lower her guard, before crouching down in front of Ryuhi.

"You've lost too much ground and the situation was too fraught to carry out your original plan," she said. "I've done my best to follow your back-up plan: I've cleared Spirit World of invaders, I've pushed the demons back, and I've set your back-up squad to continuing that effort, to free up your officers to get the barrier finished, following all the coordinates of the back-up plan. It was the best I could do, I hope you understand."

"I don't understand anything," Ryuhi said. "I don't understand why my officers are taking orders from a demon who usually survives by selling her body, and I don't understand why two demons are helping Spirit World to take land from their own world."

"You can chose what you are, but you can't chose who you are," the archer replied. "That's something I always believed, but now I know it's true. I could have let myself become consumed by what I am, but I never let it make me lose sight of who I am. And I never will. Now eat up and get back on your feet, I have other places to be, time is not on my side."

She pushed Ryuhi's hands towards her mouth and then stood up again. Ryuhi, with little better idea of what else she ought to be doing, finished her snack pack as the archer circled around her, using up her remaining arrows picking off stragglers still trying to push their way in. She made to make another shot before realising that she was out of arrows, but the second she realised she had used up her main ammunition, she hooked her bow over one shoulder and pulled out her blade, still coated in blood from its last victim, and charged at a wolf demon, stabbing into it and tearing it open.

"Hey, are you done sitting around feeling sorry for yourself yet, Ryuhi?"

Ryuhi closed a fist around her emptied snack pack, her eyes slowly moving to the blue and pink bird gliding towards her.

"Must be humiliating when someone else makes you look incompetent in front of all your peers, hm?" the bird asked as she began circling around Ryuhi's head. "I can't imagine how that must feel – pretty bad, probably. In fact, probably the only thing worse than that, would be making someone else look that bad, and then lying around and watching my whole world fall down, only for that same person to be the one who has to come and pick my sorry ass up off the ground!"

"Do I know you?" Ryuhi asked, rising to her feet, the energy boost from her snack pack starting to bring her back to her senses.

"I don't know, do you?" the bird asked, continuing to circle around her. "Because I'm not sure I know you. Although maybe that's just because I only know people who are competent and capable! People who pay attention! People who respect the importance of a plan, and stick with it, and competently deliver it, and are capable of–"

The bird stopped abruptly, both in motion and speaking, as the archer appeared and clamped a hand around her beak, holding it shut. The bird glared at her master, adjusting the pace of her wings to keep herself in place where she had been halted.

"Stop that!" the archer warned her. "It's not nice! Have you forgotten already all the things we spoke about? About forgiveness? About friendship?"

She slowly opened out her fingers, but kept her hand close to the bird's beak.

"Aren't you mad?" the bird asked her.

"No, I'm not," the archer replied. "Ryuhi made a mistake. She did something stupid, and we helped her – that's a lesson I learned from you. We all make mistakes. We all do stupid things. And, if we're lucky enough, a good friend will forgive us and help us."

The bird glared over at Ryuhi.

"We used up a lot of time helping you," she said. "Time we don't really have to waste."

"It wasn't a waste of our time!" the archer argued.

The bird turned back to her.

"I maybe can't change what I am," the archer said to her bird partner. "But that won't change who I am. And who I am is–"

"Right, right, you are who you are, and you do what you do," the bird interrupted her. "And that's great. But you know what? I am who I am too, and who I am is what I am, and what I am is a demon."

The bird swept over Ryuhi and arced around to perch in a nearby tree branch: but as she passed over the SDF soldier's head, something warm, thick and slimy, splatted onto Ryuhi's shoulder and down one side of her face.

"That wasn't very dignified!" the archer scolded the bird.

"Don't care, I'm a demon," the bird called back to her.

The archer smiled.

"It was very sweet of you though," she said.

The bird looked unreasonably smug then.

"We have another problem," the archer added. "I'm out of arrows."

"Maybe we can still find one somewhere," the bird suggested.

"I hope so."

Ryuhi, still clawing at the slimy mess she had been covered in, watched as two of her officers jogged over to join them: and she froze in abject horror when her officers stopped in front of the archer.

"We've completed the barrier adjoining the existing barrier," Saito announced. "The other sections are all progressing well."

"Excellent," the archer said with a nod of her head. "And your timing is just perfect: there is only the final stretch back to the existing barrier on the other side left. Go on ahead and start there."

The officers nodded and jogged off again, both only briefly looking in Ryuhi's direction, and even then only to check out the mess she was in.

"Who are you?" Ryuhi asked as the archer met her eyes again.

"I'm an ally," she replied.

"What's your name?" Ryuhi pressed.

"My name is Uso."

"Uso? Doesn't that mean… Lie?"

Uso smiled humourlessly.

"Yes," she confirmed. "Yes it does. And a lie is who I am, and it is what I am."

"…What…?"

Ryuhi wanted to ask Uso to better explain herself – including how it was possible that a masquerader had achieved such an increase in raw power – but before she could, the red-haired ferry girl who had been recovering arrows swept down between them.

"I'm sorry Uso, I could only find one arrow that was complete," she said, holding out a recovered arrow towards the archer.

"One arrow is all we need," the bird said, leaving the tree branch and flying over to land on Uso's shoulders.

"Thank you Momiji, you have done more than you could possibly know," Uso said to the ferry girl.

"Thank you for helping us like this," Momiji replied, before rising up into the air again.

"Officer Ryuhi, I've left it so that you can supervise efforts here," Uso explained as her bird partner slid down her back and gripped into the straps over her shoulders. "Your officers are building the barrier along the coordinates of your back-up plan, and every able fighter from Spirit World is clearing the area. You should be able to handle it from here."

"Yeah, should," the bird snorted.

"Good luck and farewell," Uso said with a nod of her head towards Ryuhi.

"See you around, soldier girl," her bird partner added sarcastically.

Ryuhi watched Uso and her partner leave, despite having her energy back still feeling too confused to speak. Soon they were out of sight, disappeared as suddenly and mysteriously as they had appeared.

"Don't just stand there dumbass, stop her!"

Ryuhi spun around, her eyes growing wide as she noticed Yusuke Urameshi charging towards her, looking as angry as she had ever seen him. He skidded to a halt in front of her, eying her over as though she was the one who had just done something unexpected.

"Why the hell did you let her go?" he demanded.

Ryuhi pointed over her shoulder.

"Yes, her," Koenma confirmed as he joined Yusuke. "Surely you could see what she was?"

"She's very fast," Kurama commented. "We won't catch her as long as she is in flight: Officer, do you know where she is headed at least? If we can get there ahead of her, we stand a much better chance of stopping this."

Ryuhi slowly scanned over the group of faces watching her expectantly, finding a rag-tag group made up of Koenma, in his adult form, his cloak torn and his jet-pack burned out and still on his back, Yusuke Urameshi looking ready to break something, Kuwabara, Shizuru and Yukina all looking worried and another ice maiden and Yusuke's bulked-up spirit beast.

"We have to be logical about this," Kurama said. "We can't all continue on from here – only the fastest of us can hope to catch her."

He looked back at the others expectantly.

"I'll go back to the living world," Shizuru offered.

"Yes, you should try to meet up with Keiko there," Kurama replied. "I left her holding Maya – it's a long story. Head to the university campus, she won't be far from there."

"Right," Shizuru agreed, before turning and running back.

"We're not as fast as you are, Kazuma," Yukina said to Kuwabara. "But we can heal the injured and we can help clear up here."

Yukina and her similarly dressed friend side-stepped away from the group.

"Okay, you two stay here and make sure these idiots get things back on track," Yusuke told them, indicating Ryuhi with a thumb as he spoke.

"And the three of us will take Puu and follow her," Kurama concluded.

"Right," Yusuke said. "Come on boy, let's go."

Ryuhi stepped aside as Yusuke's spirit beast stepped forwards. Kuwabara and Kurama leapt up onto the giant bird's back, but Yusuke hesitated to follow. He slowly turned to Koenma, who had grabbed his arm to stop him leaving.

"I'm coming with you, Yusuke," he said.

"Shouldn't you stay here and get these idiots back in line?" Yusuke asked, nodding at Ryuhi.

Koenma looked back over his shoulder at her.

"I trust that you have this," he said to her. "I trust that you can get this situation back under control."

Ryuhi nodded.

"I appreciate your kindness Sir, but I know the real reason you're not staying behind," she said.

Koenma lowered his eyes to the ground.

"I feel personally responsible for this," he admitted. "I let this happen and I didn't even notice that it had – someone else had to point it out to me."

"Well if it makes you feel any better Koenma, none of us knew it had happened," Yusuke offered. "And Kurama only figured it out because of that nose of his."

"Yes, something Uso surely knew would happen, hence why she employed Maya to keep me out of the way of her plans," Kurama said.

"Come on Koenma," Yusuke said, before leaping up onto his spirit beast's back. "Piss or get off the pot."

"Yes, very charming, Yusuke," Koenma answered him. "Good luck, Captain."

He saluted Ryuhi, who was still a little surprised to hear him call her Captain, before jumping up to join the others.

"Any idea which why she went?" Yusuke asked them.

"C'mon Urameshi, even I know the answer to that one!" Kuwabara replied through a snorting laugh.

"She's gone to find Hiei of course," Kurama said.

"Oh yeah, right, Hiei..." Yusuke muttered. "Guess I forgot about him... Hey, so uh, if Hiei was dating Botan, how does that work?"

* * *

 **Next Chapter** : Hiei takes Botan to a fine restaurant, but it seems like they are destined to have their dinner date ruined, when first Butachu shows up, followed by Doshu and Uso – but will Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Koenma get there too, and before disaster strikes? And, what's this? Is history repeating itself...? **Chapter 18a – Don't Move**


	18. Don't Move

**Chapter 18a: Don't Move**

Botan looked exceptionally pretty. "Pretty" was not really an aesthetic that Hiei had been drawn to before, but that night, as he and Botan stood in the hotel elevator, making their way down to the ground floor, he found himself staring at her, almost without any sense of shame whatsoever. She was wearing an outfit Hiei already knew she had found in her hotel room – the hotel provided a wardrobe of formal clothing in various sizes and styles to the guests who rented rooms on its upper floors – and although it was not surprising that she had chosen a kimono, it was nice to see her dressed that way for some reason. Her hair was meticulously pinned up into a bun – though a few stray hairs had curled loose out of the style, something Hiei found more charming than anything else. She was standing at his side, her hands clasped ahead of her, and she smelled of a light, fruit soap, which, along with the small smile on her face, only made her seem all the more lovely.

"I'm quite excited about out dinner date, Hiei," she said as the elevator slowed to a halt with a soft pinging sound. "I've never eaten a meal at such a fine restaurant here in Demon World before."

"You can order anything you like from the menu," Hiei answered before he could stop himself.

"You'll have to help me there," she said as she stepped out of the elevator. "I'm not well-versed with the fine cuisine here."

"Neither am I..."

Botan threw him a curious look and Hiei quickly hid his panic behind an impassive facade, allowing her to wind an arm through his as he guided her to the maître d' standing at a podium by the restaurant entrance. As they drew near, the prim lizard demon nodded his head at Botan, but held up a hand to halt Hiei before he even reached the podium.

"I'm sorry Sir, but we do have a dress code here," he said, eying Hiei over.

Hiei glanced at Botan, realising then that she had dressed that way because it was a requirement to enter a quality restaurant, and not because she secretly knew that he liked women in formal kimonos and so put one on solely for his benefit.

"And you will of course also need a reservation," the maître d' added.

"Do you know who we are?" Botan asked him. "He is Hiei, right-hand solider of–"

"It's fine," Hiei interrupted her. "I'll change my clothes."

"You don't have to do that, Hiei," Botan tried to assure him. "Just let this man know exactly how important you are and he will be begging to have you dine in his restaurant."

"I don't want to do that, I don't want him doing me any favours and I don't want to draw attention to myself," Hiei said.

"Why?" Botan whined. "You're not ashamed to be seen with a ferry girl like me, are you?"

"No, I want to..."

Hiei could not bring himself to actually tell Botan what he wanted – that he wanted to make himself more presentable, so that she would be the one who was not ashamed to be seen with him – and so he instead slid his arm from hers and backed away from her.

"Have a seat at the bar, I will be back as quickly as I can," he said, pointing her towards the nearby bar.

"Oh well, if you're sure..."

"I won't be long."

Botan started slowly towards the bar and Hiei raced back to the stairs, already knowing he could scale them faster than the elevator would take him back to his room. Fortunately his room was stocked with fine clothes just as Botan's was, and he would be able to find himself something more formal to wear with ease.

* * *

"Stop staring, you're making yourself look like a tourist..." Yusuke muttered, elbowing Kuwabara in the ribs.

"I can't help it, Urameshi!" Kuwabara said as he nervously took in his surroundings. "This place is freaky!"

Yusuke sighed.

"I got an idea," he said. "Why don't you tell us all where you're gonna find a futon for your new apartment."

"Oh, Kuwabara, did you find a suitable apartment to rent?" Kurama innocently asked.

"Yeah, he's just gotta furnish the place now," Yusuke replied before Kuwabara could talk. "And he's having a bit of a problem. So Kurama, do you know anywhere that sells a futon big enough for a guy Kuwabara's size and two ice maidens?"

Kuwabara forgot all about the fleshy, visceral walls of Mukuro's headquarters, instead turning to glare at Yusuke.

"It's not like that, Urameshi!" he argued.

"I did notice you seem to have acquired an additional ice maiden into your acquaintance, Kuwabara," Kurama said. "How did that come about?"

"She's an old friend of Yukina's, Kurama," Kuwabara answered him. "And that's all."

Yusuke snorted.

"Hey, come on man, don't pretend you don't know she's hot for you," he said.

"Really?" Kurama asked, a small, sly smile appearing on his face.

"Kuwabara, you can't just go to Demon World and start picking up ice maidens!" Koenma scolded him.

"I didn't pick her up!" Kuwabara wailed. "It wasn't like that!"

"Yukina practically suggested the three of them should get it on when this is all over," Yusuke casually commented.

"She did not, Urameshi!" Kuwabara protested.

"Relax Kuwabara," Yusuke said with a sigh.

"Yes Kuwabara, don't let our teasing concern you," Kurama added.

"I'm sure they'll let you take turns with them if you're not ready for them both at once just yet."

"Urameshi!"

"Shut-up! All of you!"

Koenma glared around the three behind him sternly before shaking his head and nodding at a guard by a large doorway. He continued inside, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama following him into Mukuro's room, where they found her sitting atop a large, cushioned throne.

"Koenma, what brings you here?" she greeted the prince. "And Yusuke. And Kurama. And... A human boy..."

"My name's Kuwabara, Miss," Kuwabara offered. "And... I'm more of a man than a boy."

"Well you will be once you get that futon all set up," Yusuke whispered.

Kurama chuckled into his hand and even Koenma snorted in amusement, leaving Kuwabara glowering at them.

"I hope you've come here to tell me that you've finished taking land from my world," Mukuro said to Koenma.

"Not quite," Koenma replied. "We're actually looking for Hiei. We hoped he might be here."

"I see," Mukuro said. "I find it curious that the leader of Spirit World, Hiei's two closest allies and a human boy can't find someone they ought to know the movements of even better than I do."

"I'm a man..." Kuwabara muttered under his breath.

"Mukuro, forgive our intrusion," Kurama tried. "We have genuine reason to believe that Hiei has become the victim of a masquerader."

"Uso?"

All four stiffened at the sound of Mukuro saying her name.

"She often comes here," Mukuro continued. "One of my men is a regular customer of hers. I don't think she serves him the sexual favours he asks, I believe she just promises to and then robs him blind. Like all masqueraders, she's hardly strong, but she is easily the most sly and devious of her kind."

"When was she last here?" Koenma asked.

"Very recently," Mukuro replied. "In fact, my man Butachu brought her here the same day Hiei brought a ferry girl named Botan here."

"Well shit," Yusuke blurted out.

Mukuro moved her attention directly to him, holding his gaze for a moment before giving a small nod of her head.

"It's as I thought then," she said. "I tried to warn Hiei something was amiss. But... I thought the same thing you do, but my man Butachu declared Botan was who she claimed to be, and he was able to prove to me that Uso was with him, and could not have been disguising herself as the ferry girl."

Koenma lowered his head and Kurama took on a look Yusuke knew was never good news.

"So... What does that mean?" he asked.

"Isn't it obvious what it means, Yusuke?" Koenma asked.

"It means Uso has taken Botan's life, and her fate has been sealed," Kurama added. "If someone familiar with Uso could not identify her in her masquerade, then Botan's fate has been sealed, and we've lost her forever."

Yusuke turned to Koenma, but his head was still down.

"What?" Kuwabara yelped.

"For what it's worth, I believe Hiei took her to a hotel not far from here," Mukuro offered. "They are probably still there."

"Then that's where we will find them," Kurama said. "All four of them. We should at least stop them before..."

"Before they all kill each other?" Koenma asked bitterly.

"Thank you for your time, Mukuro," Kurama said to Mukuro. "Come on, we should go."

Yusuke led the way out, followed closely by Kuwabara.

"So... That lady with the bow and arrow who saved Yukina and Rui...?" Kuwabara began.

"Yeah man, it's messed up," Yusuke said. "But at least we know the truth now."

"But... I mean... That thing Kurama and Koenma were saying before, about sealing her fate...?"

"I don't know, Kuwabara. Let's just get to them before... Before they actually do all kill each other."

* * *

Hiei slowed to a walking pace before he exited the stairwell, nervously smoothing at his outfit, ensuring that he looked presentable before he returned to Botan. When he eventually caught up to her, she was sitting at the bar, deep in conversation with the barman, the two of them laughing about something as though they were old friends.

It was so like her to make friends so easily, wherever she went.

"Hiei, look at you!" she called out to him as she spotted his approach. "My, don't you look so handsome!"

Hiei smiled nervously as she slid from the barstool and approached him, smiling so sweetly at him. He let her take his face in her hands and smile down at him for a moment, the appreciative way she admired him a much more welcome experience than her throwing her naked body at him as she had done earlier.

"Let's see that grumpy maître d' turn us down now!" she said, releasing his face to link an arm through his.

He nodded and guided her back over towards the well-dressed lizard demon, who smiled tensely at them upon their approach.

"Yes, that's an improvement, but you still don't have a reservation," he said to Hiei.

Botan leaned forwards, peering into the dining area.

"You have ample empty tables!" she protested. "I'm sure you can make space for us!"

He gave her a long look before a small smile appeared on his face.

"Of course," he said, sounding suddenly much more amiable. "Right this way."

He stepped out from behind his podium and moved into the dining area and, after Botan gave him another sweet smile and warm look, Hiei gladly walked her into the restaurant, refusing the first table they were offered – which was something he had once heard Kurama suggest was good etiquette – and instead he demanded a table by the window. The lizard demon led them there and pulled out a chair for Botan while Hiei sat down facing her.

"Can I get you something to drink?" the lizard asked.

"Just water," Hiei said.

"Oh Hiei, don't be so silly!" Botan said. "We'll have a bottle of your finest champagne."

Hiei then immediately felt a little silly – he had heard that drink spoken of before, and seemed to recall it had some sort of romantic significance. The lizard left to collect their order and Botan reached her hands across the table, taking hold of Hiei's hands in her own.

"This is so lovely Hiei, you were right, it was best to come here," she said. "And this table you chose is perfect, the view is just–ah!"

Botan screamed, dropped Hiei's hands and recoiled back from the window, her chair squeaking against the floor with the force of her movements. Hiei turned to see what had startled her so and found himself almost recoiling out of disgust too at what he saw: that lecherous, rat-faced old man was standing right outside the window, leering in at Botan.

"Ignore him," Hiei told Botan.

"He's so disgusting!" she whined.

"He'll leave, just ignore him."

As though the old man had heard Hiei's words, he did then duly move on, and Botan settled back into her original position at the table.

"Oh Hiei, where were we?" she asked.

She smoothed her hands over her hair – though Hiei noticed more strands of hair had fallen loose from the style she had so neatly tucked it into, and he wondered if that had happened in her panic to distance herself from the disgusting old man.

"Ah look, here comes the champagne," she said suddenly. "Drink it up Hiei, it will help you relax."

Hiei frowned as the waiter placed down a metal bucket filled with ice and an enormous bottle. The shape of the bottle was familiar, he had stolen such bottles in his time as a bandit, and he knew they resold for ridiculous sums of money – which left him wondering how much the bottle he was looking at was going to end up costing him.

"Oh my Miss, you look just ravishing this evening!"

Botan yelped and Hiei growled as Butachu approached their table.

"I saw you through the window, and I just had to come in and..." he said, reaching a hand towards Botan's head.

"You touch so much as one hair on her head, and I will eviscerate you," Hiei warned him. "I don't care how well Mukuro likes you, you are nothing to me."

The old man eyed Hiei over as though considering whether or not he minded being killed viciously if it meant he got to touch Botan's hair before he fell.

"Get out of here!" Hiei growled at him.

"I came here to dine," the old man replied, pulling out a seat at the table behind Hiei.

Hiei looked back over his shoulder as the old man sat down facing Botan.

"Don't mind him," Botan said to Hiei. "Just focus on me, Hiei. Have a drink. Relax. Just breathe... And believe..."

* * *

Yusuke threw open the hotel doors and marched right up to the reception desk, not even bothering to make sure the others were keeping up with him. A cat demon at the desk eyed him with a degree of disdain as his arrival interrupted her nail-filing.

"Hey whiskers, did a girl and a bird come through this way?" he demanded.

"A girl and a bird?" the cat demon repeated, her tone and the thinned eyes she was regarding him through implying that she thought he was mocking her somehow.

"It's not a difficult question..." he grumbled.

"Do you have a reservation at this hotel, Sir?" she asked.

"No, I don't," Yusuke replied.

"Did you come here to make a reservation at this hotel, Sir?"

"No, but you're getting real close to making yourself a reservation with my fist..."

"Yusuke please, let me handle this," Kurama offered as he joined Yusuke at the hotel front desk. "Pardon me Miss, we are looking for two demons: a masquerader named Uso, and her partner, a bird demon named Doshu. Have you seen either of them?"

The cat demon paused before heaving a sigh and turning around a monitor on her desk to show them the images displayed. She typed something into a keyboard, the screen showing a video in high-speed reverse. After a few seconds she stopped and let the video play, and Yusuke and Kurama – along with Kuwabara and Koenma – leaned over the desk to watch as a woman with wild hair, dressed in a vest, frayed short shorts, carrying a bow and quiver with just one arrow over her shoulders, walked across the same lobby they were standing in.

And what they saw next defied belief.

* * *

"You have such pretty hair," Butachu cooed at Botan. "It's such a pretty colour. I've only ever seen that colour on one other woman before – so rare. So pretty."

"He's talking about his whore friend," Hiei commented.

"Did you come here just to look at me, little man?" Botan asked the old man.

Hiei was growing irritated that Botan was paying more attention to Butachu than she was to him – after all she was meant to be on a date with him and not the old man – but she appeared either not to notice his irritation or not to care, as, despite his repeated suggestions that she ignore the rat-faced pest, she kept indulging him.

"Tell me how you came to know Hiei," the old man asked.

Hiei groaned, his attention drifting to the large bottle of champagne sitting in the bucket of ice. He had never tried champagne before, but he was starting to consider opening the bottle and drinking it all to himself, if only to escape having to listen to the old man carry on. As he considered doing anything other than just sitting there listening to the old man carry on and Botan indulge him, Hiei's attention drifted to the lizard demon standing at the entrance of the restaurant, which was barely within his line of sight from the table he was sitting at. Despite the distance and unhelpful angle, Hiei was able to hear that the maître d' was arguing with someone else about their lack of a reservation, despite the fact that the restaurant was not even half full of customers.

However, the person he was arguing with apparently had as little patience for his complaint as Hiei had, as a hand snatched the reservation book from his desk, tore out a few pages, flinging them aside, and then finally the entire book impacted with the lizard demon's chest and he fell back from his position. As soon as he fell, a bird swept in through the entrance, and at that point, Hiei's interest in what he was witnessing piqued.

It was the same bird Botan had beaten nearly to death and then flung out of his room.

The bird swept in, wings spread wide and moving smoothly. The bird had been healed so well, it looked as though it had never been injured at all. It seemed stronger, more radiant than ever before: though there could of course be a logical explanation for that. The bird was, after all, a partner demon, and its strength relied largely on the bond it shared with its master. A change of master may have brought about such an increase in power, and although Hiei never had found out who the bird had been working for before, it certainly seemed to have found itself a better master to serve.

And then, as though on cue, the bird's new master entered the restaurant.

She walked in with an impressive degree of confidence, booted feet clicking against the hard floor as she began to weave through the tables with sways of her hips. Hiei knew who she was – he had seen her many times before – but he had never noticed just how attractive she was before. Her hair was a mess, as though it had not been tended to in days, and she looked like she was fresh out of battle, the serrated knife sheathed at her left thigh looked as though it was stuck there, coated in congealed blood. She had an indescribable allure: she was both exotic and yet strangely familiar. She was smiling, but there was something odd about her smile, something that was difficult to put into context, as most of the rest of her face – her eyes and nose and most of her forehead – were hidden behind one of those decorative masks all the masquerade class demons wore: hers was additionally decorated with a few feathers she had seemingly plucked from the back of her partner's head.

"You can't come in here dressed like that!" a waiter scolded her, stepping into her path.

Without breaking stride she snatched his circular serving tray from his hands and flung it up into the air, where it collided with one side of a chandelier, shattering crystal and extinguishing a light. Her bird partner swept past the waiter and hissed at him in warning, and he backed away, allowing her to continue unhindered.

Which she did.

All the way towards the table Hiei was sitting at.

"Uso!"

"Oh, bless you!"

Hiei frowned at Botan's words. Whilst it had sounded like the old man had sneezed, he had a suspicion that "Uso" was also the name of the masquerader approaching his table. Botan finally looked directly at Hiei, briefly smiling at him before doing a distinct double-take at the woman who had come to a halt a few feet from the edge of their table.

"Don't move. I know who you are. I know what you are."

Hiei frowned, moving his eyes to the woman addressing them. Her choice of words seemed odd, but the situation only became more confusing as she continued.

"I've been looking for you. I knew you'd come here – you always do, eventually. You can't even imagine what I've been through trying to find you, how long I've spent planning the moment when we would finally come face to face right here."

Botan, her eyes and jaw open wide, stared at the woman by their table as she began to slowly extract the one remaining arrow from her quiver with one hand, whilst her other hand eased her bow from her shoulder. Her bird circled around until it was directly above her, hovering there and glaring down at Botan. Botan put one hand on the back of her seat and one on the table and started as though she intended to stand up and leave the table, but she stopped short at what happened next.

"I said don't move," the masquerader said sternly, loading her arrow into her bow and taking aim at Botan. "And I mean it."

Her bird landed on her shoulders and together they began to pour their energy into the arrow, the power behind it growing rapidly and far beyond anything a demon of her class ought to be capable of.

"If you so much as take one step forwards," she said in a low voice. "I will shoot you right between your doe eyes."

* * *

 **Next Chapter:**

…  
…

Well now, let's see here...

This chapter ended with Uso showing up, her arrival announced by an admirer (in this case Butachu) seemingly sneezing, and she pointed an arrow in Botan's face and delivered the "don't move" speech.

...

Chapter one ended with Uso showing up, her arrival announced by an admirer (in that case Maya) seemingly sneezing, and she pointed an arrow in Botan's face and delivered the "don't move" speech.

…

…

So I guess that means the next chapter must be... **Chapter 2b: New Girl**

 **A/N:** Circular story-telling! (Sort of.)


	19. B New Girl

**Chapter 2b: New Girl**

"Don't move. I know who you are. I know what you are. I've been looking for you. I knew you'd come here – you always do, eventually. You can't even imagine what I've been through trying to find you, how long I've spent planning the moment when we would finally come face to face right here."

Botan allowed herself to blink before frowning ever so slightly at the hooded woman addressing her.

"I said don't move. And I mean it. If you so much as take one step forwards, I will shoot you right between your doe eyes."

Botan swallowed, a sweat breaking out across her brow as the action of gulping caused her entire head to bob, and the thought occurred to her that the movement might be enough to offset the wild woman standing in front of her.

"What is she, Uso?"

Botan moved her eyes – something she hoped would not count as physical movement – to the shorter, red-haired girl in a hooded top standing next to the woman currently poised ready to shoot Botan through the forehead with an exceptionally sharp arrow mounted on a crudely-fashion bow.

"An agent of Spirit World, Maya," the woman replied. "Disguised as a human – which makes her even more perfect."

"Did I do well?" the girl Maya asked, smiling anxiously up at the woman she had addressed as Uso.

"Yes, you did," Uso purred back, her eyes thinning and a wicked smile lifting the corners of her painted red lips. "You!"

Botan yelped and flinched involuntarily as Uso jerked her bow and arrow, the lethal point of her arrow flashing as the metal caught the light of the sun through the treetops.

"What's your name?"

Botan was hesitant to answer: although Maya was clearly just an ordinary girl, she was starting to suspect that Uso was not quite human. Botan had never seen a human with blue hair or pink eyes before, but more than the woman's appearance, something about her just felt sinister. Her aura appeared entirely human, but something about her mannerisms felt amiss.

Which was odd, because, on the surface, she looked exactly the same as Botan.

It was like looking in a mirror, Botan thought to herself: an odd mirror that twisted reality slightly, because the "reflection" before her – whilst identical in appearance – was diametrically opposite in style. Where Botan had hear hair tied up in her favoured high ponytail, Uso wore her hair loose and spilling over her shoulders in stylised waves. Unlike Botan's fresh-faced appearance, Uso wore make-up that was a little on the heavy side, and in colours and styles that were not in keeping with current trends in the living world. Botan was dressed in a loose-fitting, powder pink, Peter Pan collar, cap-sleeved dress that fell to her knees and was only slightly gathered at the waist: the woman in front of her was wearing a shocking pink ensemble that looked more like an over-sized apron, tied to barely cover her vital areas, with a neckline that plunged dangerously low and a hemline that would probably cause Kuwabara to faint. And, inexplicably, she had a loose, short-length cape over her shoulders, the hood lifted up over her head, her hair spilling out of either side and over her shoulders. Botan was wearing a pair of tennis shoes that had once belonged to Keiko (who had given them to Botan to wear when she took human form to visit the living world), but Uso, despite wielding a bow and arrow and creeping around in a wooded area, was wearing high-heels attached to her feet and ankles by a series and thin black leather straps. They looked like the most painful form of footwear imaginable, and were hardly practical.

"I asked you a question!" Uso snapped, lunging closer to Botan.

Botan yelped and leapt back on instinct, but her back hit a particularly thick and solid tree, the force of the impact almost taking her breath away. Before she could recover she felt the sickening scratchy sensation of Uso's arrow pressing against the soft area of skin between her eyebrows, shortly followed by the warming sensation of two trickles of blood escaping from the point of contact to slid down either side of her nose.

"You bleed like a human," Uso growled.

"You're making some sort of mistake," Botan tried. "Please let me go. I won't tell anyone I saw you here. Just walk away and let me do the same."

"Ha, I don't think so!" Uso scoffed. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me who you are!"

"I'm a student at this university!" Botan lied, with what she felt was a good deal of conviction.

"No you're not," Uso snarled back in a low voice.

Botan paused for a moment, momentarily overcome by just how similar the woman was to her – it was almost like she was looking into the face of an identical twin sister Spirit World had negated to tell her she had.

"I'm an exchange student," she feebly replied.

"Where are you from?" Uso asked.

"Sweden...?" Botan tried.

The woman smiled almost kindly and lowered her weapon at last. She shook her head and looked downward, reaching up her hands to pull down her hood, and in that moment, Botan stole a glance across the lawn at Kurama and Kuwabara – who were still sitting in their favoured lunch spot – at a picnic bench on the sprawling campus lawns – blissfully unaware of Botan's presence or her predicament. She silently wondered if there was a way she could reach them somehow – but before she could formulate any sort of plan, something happened that made her lose all control of her senses entirely.

"What's this?"

Maya was holding Botan's notebook.

"Don't you touch that!" Botan wailed, reaching her arms out and turning on Maya.

Uso effortlessly kicked Botan's legs out from under her, causing her to land hard on the unforgiving, compacted ground. When she lifted her head she could see blood dripping from her face, and she was not sure if it was from the small cut Uso's arrow had delivered or an impact wound she had sustained when she fell.

"Looks like it's her diary," Maya sneered as she flipped through the pages of Botan's notebook. "It's full of crap about who she thinks her friends are and some guy named Hiei she's apparently obsessed with."

"That's useful," Uso said, snatching the book from Maya. "It may seem trivial, but it makes the next part of our plan so much easier."

Botan gasped and began struggling to get back up to her feet. Uso reached her in one long stride and stepped one foot onto the small of her back, pushing her back down into the dirt.

"Ow!" Botan complained, her voice partially muffled by the ground. "Your heels are sharper than your arrows!"

"Take this, and hide this in the usual place," Uso said.

Botan managed to move her head enough to see Maya walking away with her precious notebook and Uso's bow and quiver of arrows.

"Now this is going to hurt me every bit as much as it hurts you, but just think how great things will be when I've finished!" Uso said to Botan. "Well, great for me that is. As for you… Well, if you're a capable being, I'm sure you'll carve out a way to survive, and if you're incapable of that then… That's really not my concern."

Uso removed her foot from Botan's back, and the ferry girl immediately made to escape her,: but Uso somehow dropped down out of the sky in her path by the time she had merely got up into all fours, as though she had flown up and over her head.

"What are you doing?" Botan asked.

She was not really sure she wanted to know the answer, but she was hoping to at least stall whatever was coming with conversation, and hopefully negotiate – or just brainstorm – a way out of whatever was coming.

"I'm going to take what's mine," Uso replied, removing her cape entirely and casting it aside.

"I honestly think there's been some sort of mistake," Botan began.

"I've waited a long time to find another victim," Uso said, taking a step closer to Botan. "Centuries, in fact. Do you really think I would turn down the chance to take the life of an agent of Spirit World?"

Uso let out a cackling laugh that stung Botan's ears.

"Please!" she continued. "The only thing greater than stealing a human's life is to steal that of a spirit's. What sort of masquerader would I be if I just let this opportunity slip through my fingers? Besides, you don't even deserve the life you have! Look at you: dressed like some pathetic, frumpy maid, pretending to be a human. You've wasted your life. Just think what I can do with it."

"Apparently she's going to some place called "Genkai's" tonight," Maya said as she rejoined them. "With three girls called Keiko, Shizuru and Yukina. But there's something in here about Kuwabara, too."

"Anything else I need to know right now?" Uso asked. "Anything useful?"

"Her name's Botan."

"Perfect."

Botan made to protest, but before she could, Uso kicked her in her side, the force throwing her back down and onto her back.

"The only thing I hate about this part is the inevitable loss of raw power..." Uso said with a sigh, before dropping onto all fours with one arm either side of Botan's shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Botan yelped. "I'm not that sort of girl! Get away from me!"

"If you just relax, just breathe, and just believe," Uso whispered as she gently took hold of the underside of Botan's jaw in one hand. "Then this will be at least a little less agonising for you."

Botan whimpered as a strange white haze filled the air around her. For a prolonged, blissful moment, she actually did feel relaxed, and breathing deeply felt quite satisfying. But the moment the haze thickened and began apparently soaking into Uso she was suddenly wracked in pain. She opened her mouth and a small, short, shout escaped her before she was paralysed entirely, and able to do little more than just breathe. The pain continued until the haze had finally disappeared entirely: but Botan had little respite before something black swirled in the air around her and then began pressing down into ever fibre of her being. Again she let out a silent cry of agony, and this time, even after the shadowy haze had gone, the pain continued, leaving her twitching and struggling to breathe. Her human heart had stopped beating but she could feel her blood coursing through her veins.

"What are you doing, girl?"

Uso's voice sounded muffled and distorted to Botan's burning ears.

"That was horrible," Maya replied, wiping at her face with a tissue as she staggered away from the point where she had just vomited.

"Well pull yourself together, I'm going to need you if the next part of my plan is going to work," Uso sternly told her. "You know what you have to do?"

Maya nodded and she turned to leave. Botan, although still racked in agony and with so little sense of her physical being that she was questioning whether she still had limbs, somehow managed to sit up and grab her hands around one of Uso's legs, just below her knee. Uso looked down at her and shook her head disapprovingly before holding up a hand that was glowing with white spirit energy. Botan watched numbly as her favoured baseball bat materialised in Uso's hand, and she was on her back again before she even realised she had been hit over the head with it.

Botan coughed up a mouthful of blood that spurted into the air only to land right back over her face, before finally blacking out.

* * *

Botan awoke with a start, her head throbbing. She was moving, on something unsteady. She hauled herself all the way up to her feet before she had even blinked her eyes into focus, only to find herself standing in a brown, crusty room, along with two particularly bulky and ugly demons, and one hunch-backed, rat-faced demon.

"Wh-where am I?" she asked.

"Oh look, the liar woke up," one of the demons scoffed.

The entire room was shaking and distinctly moving to Botan's left: it was like being in a car during an earthquake.

"Yeah nice effort getting through a rogue portal, but you know how it is," another demon addressed her.

Botan looked over at the third demon, the smaller one, the only one who had not yet spoken, and found him standing over a steering wheel mounted on a pedestal, his eyes cast downwards at a glowing screen on a console atop it, the whole thing oddly placed in the centre of the room.

"Who are you all?" she tried.

"Border Patrol, and we got better things to do than pick up lying sluts like you!" the demon at the wheel snapped back at her.

Botan gasped, her jaw dropping open.

"I ought to–"

Botan stopped abruptly. She had been following her threat with an attempt to summon her baseball bat, intent on smashing the disrespectful demon over the head with it – she cared not how big and powerful his companions might be, and she cared even less that he was apparently an officer of Demon World's Border Patrol – but, instead of her bat, her hand was engulfed in a crackling glow of red energy.

Botan moved her hand in front of her face and stared at it for a long, long moment.

"Don't even think about, bitch," one of the demons casually warned her. "A masquerader like you isn't strong enough to take even one of us on."

Botan looked over at the demon who had spoken.

"Yeah, why don't you stick to what you're best at," another demon scoffed.

"What would that be?" the demon at the wheel sneered. "Selling her body, lying to people and pretending to be a human?"

The other demons laughed, but neither their words nor their merriment even fully registered with Botan.

"Th-this is demon energy!" she managed to blurt out, holding up her crackling hand.

"I don't even count the masqueraders as real demons," one of the demons replied.

"Yeah, it's not like they're strong!" another agreed.

"This one is the archer," the rat-faced demon at the wheel spat. "The one who can "fly"."

"Oh yeah?" one of the others asked. "She can fly? Then let's see her demonstrate!"

The energy around Botan's hand vanished and she staggered back until she hit a wall, her eyes glancing frantically between the two enormous, hulking demon closing in on her.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. "You're making a mistake! I'm a ferry girl! I'm not a "masquerader"! I don't even know what a "masquerader" is!"

"Wicked woman, do you ever stop lying?" the demon at the wheel grumbled.

Botan screamed and struggled with all she had, but was powerless to stop the demons from each grabbing one of her arms and one of her legs, and carrying her across the room.

"Let's see you fly then!" one of them jeered before they both swung her violently back and then launched her forwards.

Botan screamed shamelessly as she was hurtled through the air and came to a series of horrifying realisations: she was in Demon World; she had just been thrown, with demon strength, from a moving vehicle; she was flying through the air away from a mountain road, and, as her forward momentum decreased and her descent began in earnest, she was a dizzying height above a landscape of jagged rocks and two sets of warring demons.

At least things could not possibly get any worse, she silently told herself.

An angry snarl of thunder sounded and a flash of lightning blinded her, the energy of the blast passing over her so closely she felt the tingle of static through her entire body.

Blinded, falling, still in pain and her voice almost screamed hoarse, Botan wondered if she was about to die – or worse.

She swiped at her eyes to clear them and tried to summon her oar, but again her hands merely crackled with demon energy, an energy she could feel throughout her entire body. She cried out for help, and, as though by some incredible miracle, a shadow swept over her, a set of thick, scaly fingers grabbing her by her arms and slowing her descent. Once she could see that she was upright and that the ground below her was clear, and that she was finally approaching it at a controlled, sensible speed, Botan dared to look up.

A large bird with shimmering blue and pink plumage was holding onto her, beating its majestic wings with precision to ease her down to the ground. Botan sighed when her feet finally touched down, then realising just how tightly – and in fact painfully – the bird had been holding onto her. The bird released her, leaving behind linear bruises on her arms: though that was a small price to pay to avoid being impaled on a sharp rock or being blasted out of existence by warring demons, she told herself.

"Milady, what happened?"

Botan's head whipped around, her hair – which she had forgotten was still loose and more than a little windswept – flying around either side of her as she searched for the source of the voice that had spoken.

"Lady Uso, are you alright?" the voice asked. "Is there anything I can get for you?"

Botan slowly righted herself, facing forwards, and lowering her eyes to the blue and pink bird standing on the ground before her.

"Milady?" the bird asked.

"You can talk," Botan mumbled.

"Did the Border Patrol catch you again, Milady?" the bird asked. "Did they throw you out to see you fly again?"

Botan frowned.

"Don't worry Ma'am, I've found another passage to the human realm," the bird continued. "I can get us there by nightfall, and you can get back to your mission."

"I don't know who – or even what – you are," Botan flatly said.

The bird frowned – which was an odd expression for a bird, Botan thought to herself – and took a step back, purposefully eying Botan over.

"Oh..." the bird muttered. "I see... Milady was successful in her mission then... So then you must be..."

"Listen," Botan began, as patiently as she could manage in light of what she had just endured. "There has been a terrible misunderstanding. I am just a simple exchange student from Sweden, and I need to get back to class."

The bird snorted.

"I don't know where I am, or how I got here," Botan sternly continued, her patience quickly waning. "But I have to get back."

"Oh, no, you're not going anywhere," the bird answered her. "You can't. Not now. Don't you understand that? This is your home now."

"This is Demon World, this is not my home!" Botan snapped.

The bird gave her a flat look.

"Oh, so you do know where you are..." the bird muttered.

Botan sighed and dropped her head into her hands.

"I just need to get back," she said.

"And I already told you, you can't go back," the bird replied. "Not now. Not ever. You're one of us now. Like it or not, Demon World is your home now."

Botan slowly lifted her head from her hands, watching as the same crackling energy engulfed her palms.

"I don't understand..." she muttered.

"Well, why don't you let me show you around," the bird offered. "I may as well, it's not like I have anything better to do now that Lady Uso has finally found a life to steal in the human world. My name's Doshu."

Botan looked at the bird again.

"Doshu?" she said.

The bird nodded.

"My name's Botan, I..."

Botan's words trailed off when Doshu started shaking her head at her.

"It doesn't matter what your name used to be," she told Botan. "Because here, your name is Uso."

"Doesn't... Doesn't that mean liar?" Botan asked.

"It's your name," Doshu flatly replied. "It's who you are, it's what you are."

Botan shook her head.

"You don't have any other choice," Doshu snippily responded. "You're a masquerader now. If you want to survive, you have to be capable of adapting."

Botan whimpered.

"But don't worry Botan," Doshu assured her. "I'm here to help you. I'll be your friend – just like how I was Lady Uso's best friend."

Botan's face dropped.

"Uso..." she ground out. "You're asking me to pretend to be that nasty, mean woman?"

"You might as well," Doshu replied. "After all, right now, Uso's in your world, pretending to be you!"

Botan's jaw dropped, and she literally felt her entire life falling away from her. She felt an internal sinking, like something was dropping down through her, dragging all hope and happiness down through her, and out of her feet.

"But... She has my... My notebook–!"

Botan hit the ground, landing in an awkward sitting position. She no longer cared where she was or what was going on around her. The world around her no longer matter when her own world, the world of her own self, was spiralling so violently and so rapidly out of control.

"My notebook... Kurama... And Kuwabara..." she muttered. "Sleepover with the... The girls... Keiko and Yusuke... Yusuke and Hiei–!"

"Come on now, you shouldn't stay here," Doshu said to her.

Botan shook her head.

"I-I don't understand..." she said faintly, touching a hand to her throat, the pain of how raw it was after her frantic yelling finally registering in her conscious mind. "Doshu?"

She turned to her mysterious rescuer, who, in her current, seated position, was eye-level with her.

"What's a "masquerader"?" she asked.

"You are," Doshu replied.

"But..." Botan said pitifully.

"Well, you quite obviously weren't one before, but you are one now," Doshu added. "That is how it works."

"I don't even... How is that...?"

"Come on. I'll introduce you to the others. They'll enjoy meeting the new girl."

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Suddenly a demon, and suddenly alone in Demon World, Botan puts her trust and faith entirely into bird demon Doshu, who is both street smart and seems to be super-willing to help: but can Botan really trust Uso's partner demon pet? **Chapter 3b: Ladies Night**


	20. B Ladies Night

**Chapter 3b – Ladies Night**

Demon World had never looked darker or drearier, the air had never felt heavier nor more oppressive than it did that day as Botan dragged her feet, following the bird flying just ahead of her. As she walked, she occasionally attempted to summon her oar or her baseball bat, but every time she expended any effort, she was met with a crackling flare of demon energy: apparently a masquerader was a sort of demon, and apparently that was what Uso had been.

"What will happen to me?" she asked, still looking at the glow around her hands. "I mean – Uso – I mean my life. What will happen? What will Uso do?"

"Well, before Uso swapped energies with you, what did you do with your life?" Doshu asked, slowly down until she was flying level with and alongside Botan's head.

"I was a ferry girl," Botan replied. "I ferried the souls of the dead."

Doshu laughed, only stopping when Botan shook off the demon energy glowing around her hands and threw an irritated glower at the bird demon.

"Oh, right," Doshu recovered. "I was just thinking that I can't imagine my Mistress ferrying souls, that's not why she took your life."

"Then why?" Botan asked. "And why did I have to come here and be her?"

"Because whenever a masquerader finds a life they can readily take, they take it. It's what they do. And, until they can find a life to take, they use their charms in other ways."

"I still don't understand why she had to take my life – I don't even have a life to take – I'm a ferry girl!"

"It will be really easy for her to completely take your life though. The two of you look physically identical. And masqueraders are masters of manipulation, they can read people. She'll know how to behave like you by reading signals from your friends. And, as long as she has your spirit energy, they'll never know the truth."

"How do I get my spirit energy back?"

"You don't. The contract only ends when you die."

Botan pouted.

"In that case, kill me."

Doshu gave Botan a strange sideward look as they moved along together.

"Are you serious right now?" Doshu eventually asked.

"Yes," Botan replied. "If I die, I will arrive back in Spirit World, and I can explain this whole mess to Koenma, and he can fix everything."

Doshu appeared to consider this idea for a moment.

"I can't just let Uso run wild with my notebook!" Botan implored. "She and Maya have my notebook!"

"Gees Botan, is your notebook more important to you than your life?" Doshu asked.

"My notebook is my life!" Botan cried.

"What sort of notebook is it?"

"It's my notebook! It's the precious place where I wrote down information about Spirit World! Confidential information! I can't leave that sort of information in the hands of a wily demon woman!"

"I see."

"And I wrote everything about all of my friends in there! I've already forgotten what Keiko's favourite flavour of Kit-Kat is! I need my notebook! And... Everything I wrote in there about Hiei! Oh Doshu, if Hiei ever found out...!"

Botan stopped walked and doubled over, grabbing her knees to stop herself from keeling over entirely. Doshu circled back and dropped to the ground, peering up under Botan's hair, which had fallen over her shoulders and around her head.

"Who's Hiei?" Doshu asked.

"He's... Oh!" Botan whimpered back.

She closed her eyes so that she would not have to look into the eyes looking back up at her, the eyes that were, by a rather strange coincidence, the same shade of fuchsia as her own.

"Oh, Hiei was your lover?" Doshu asked. "That's strange. I didn't think spirits ever took lovers. Maybe it's just a Demon World stereotype, but I can't imagine spirits having sex. So was Hiei a human boy?"

"...Demon..."

Doshu gasped but Botan kept her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"You were in a sexual relationship with a demon?" Doshu cooed, her delighted fascination evident in her tone. "You? Sweet little ferry girl that you are, you were getting down and dirty with a demon–"

"No! It wasn't like that!" Botan wailed, opening her eyes, tears immediately escaping. One landed on Doshu's forehead, but she did not so much as flinch, the sparkle of interest in her intense eyes shining as brightly as ever. "It wasn't like that, Doshu! We weren't lovers!"

"Oh," Doshu responded, her eyes dulling over immediately and and her entire body slumping. "What a disappointment. Your life really sounding interesting for a moment there... So, if you weren't this Hiei's lover, what exactly is in your notebook about him that's so private?"

"Well, first of all, I wrote down that Yukina is his sister," Botan replied. "And not everybody knows that – including Yukina – and I was sworn to secrecy on the matter!"

"Okay, well, I can't imagine Uso would care about something like that. It's really unlikely she would mention it to anyone. I don't think you need to worry about it. Let's keep moving."

"No! Wait, it gets worse!"

Doshu, who had turned to move on, turned back around, peering up under Botan's hair at her face again.

"You see the thing is, I sort of have a little bit of a crush on Hiei."

Botan had never admitted that fact to anyone except her notebook. She had never even said out loud before that very moment.

"So?" Doshu pressed.

"So I may have sort of written about it in my notebook," Botan feebly replied.

"Ah," Doshu said, nodding her head. "I see."

"And, the other thing is, it sort of started during the Dark Tournament, and I sort of started writing about it then. You know, often times Keiko would be out nagging Yusuke, Yukina would be fussing over Kuwabara's wounds, Kurama would take Shizuru and Atsuko to the concession stand and buy them cigarettes and beer and I would be all alone, so I would go for a fly on my oar, and I would sometimes happen upon Hiei, training without any shirt on, and then I would fly back to the hotel, and I would still be on my own, or else maybe Kurama, Shizuru and Atsuko would be back, but Kurama would be on the phone to his mother, and Shizuru and Atsuko would be drinking, and so I would just go to my room and write in my notebook about..."

"About what, Botan?"

"Well, about Hiei."

"...I still don't get what the big deal is."

"I wrote about things I would imagine about him."

"...Oh... I see..."

"No, you don't see! I... Wrote about things like... I would write that I had come back to the hotel room, and I was all alone, and I would take a shower, and Hiei would... Arrive... And he would... I wrote it all in there, Doshu! Every little detail! None of it was real, it was just my fantasy! And writing it – and then even re-reading it – always made me have to go take a shower! A very, very cold shower!"

"Damn girl, that's messed up."

"Do you understand now? Someone else – someone who will abuse that sort of information – has access to it! And the way I wrote it... I wrote it as part of the section of the book I used as a diary! Anyone reading it would just think I was writing about something that actually happened! That Hiei actually did come into the shower with me and–!"

Botan covered her face with her hands.

"I could help you."

Botan parted her fingers just enough that her eyes could peer through them down at her unusual new friend.

"I could get your notebook back for you," Doshu offered.

"Why would you do that for me?" Botan asked. "You don't owe me anything – I'm the one who owes you, for saving my life back there!"

"Well, my role is as servant to Uso the Masquerader, and, technically, that's you now," Doshu said, sounding suddenly very gentle and friendly. "Your my Mistress now. If you want me to fetch your notebook, I will do as you bid."

Botan stood up straight and pushed her hair back out of her face before wiping away stray tears from her cheeks.

"Oh, Doshu!" she said. "What a fantastic and lovely bird you are!"

Doshu nodded.

"Just tell me where you think Uso might be right now, and I will find her," she said. "My power level is so low, I can pass through even the weakest of portals to any of the other worlds: spirit or human."

"Well, I was supposed to be spending the weekend with the girls at Genkai's old place," Botan said.

"Okay, tell me how to get there. I'll take you to the club, for safety, you can stay with the other masqueraders, and I'll fetch your notebook for you."

"Oh Doshu, that would be just wonderful!"

* * *

Doshu swooped down towards the large building, really only visible because of the scant lanterns illuminating the entrance and the full moon overhead. She was not really familiar with the human realm, but even she could see that it was a stupid place for the weak to gather at a time when Spirit World were causing unrest in Demon World. She landed silently on the roof and there edged down to the guttering, leaning over to peer into the windows below. After several views of darkened, abandoned rooms, she finally found a room with light and life inside of it. She flinched a little as she spotted Uso, dressed in a large T-shirt, her wavy blue hair swept up into a high ponytail – a style Doshu had never before seen her adopt. One of the humans turned to the window with a suspicious look and Doshu quickly leaned back out of sight, creeping back up to the peak of the roof. She waited there a little longer until Uso finally appeared, climbing a tree in the garden before leaping from it, flipping over in one complete turn midair to break the momentum of her fall and land silently, bare-footed, before her partner.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, in her usual, stern tone. "You were almost seen. If you get caught here, you could get killed – and I won't stop anyone from trying to do exactly that."

Doshu assumed that Uso was forcibly changing her voice to maintain the illusion that she was the ferry girl, as their true voices were vastly different in tone and texture.

"I come bearing some important news, Milady," Doshu replied, bowing politely before her Mistress.

"It better be important, I can't be seen talking to a demon," Uso warned her.

"It is Ma'am," Doshu insisted. "Botan – the one whose life you took – told me that you have her notebook?"

"Get to the point, bird," Uso snarled.

"She told me a lot of information in there is not factual," Doshu said. "She said the things she wrote about the demon Hiei were just fantasy."

"Damn!"

"You've already encountered Hiei, Milady?"

"Yes... He seemed interested though. And I was a little suspicious, truth be told. I did think it was highly odd that an S-class demon would be lusting after a silly ferry girl. However, he did seem interested, and his friends aren't even that surprised that she could be his lover. He's second in command to Mukuro. It's in my interests to quickly establish the sort of relationship "Botan" thought she had with him. If I can secure him, I will have power and presence in all three worlds."

"Of course, Milady. You are so clever!"

"Don't come back to me unless you have something useful to tell me."

"I understand, Ma'am."

"But don't hesitate to come back to me if you do have something useful to tell me."

"Of course, Ma'am."

Doshu took to the air, but was halted when Uso grabbed onto one of her legs, yanking her back down painfully.

"All you need to do, is make sure she stays alive in Demon World," Uso sharply reminded her. "If she dies, this all falls apart. Keep her alive. Sell her to a slave master if you must, anything you have to do to secure her life."

"I understand, Ma'am," Doshu frantically replied, trying to ignore the pain in her leg.

"Now get out of here! Quickly!"

Uso roughly released Doshu and she gladly fled, flying as fast as she could into the night sky and back to Demon World to track down Botan again.

* * *

Botan had not really given much thought to exactly where Doshu had been leading her, not even when the bird had told her they were going to a "club": but, despite having been in the "club" for a good twenty minutes, Botan had yet to remove her hands from their place at the side of her eyes, blinkering her view of the majority of the hot, stinky place she was in.

"Uso, get back to work!"

The girl shouting at Botan looked a lot like Genkai. She was wearing shimmering yellow hot pants, knee-high white PVC boots with very high heels, a matching white PVC headband, tied in a bow atop her head, amidst her pink hair and an elaborate white mask over her eyes. And that was all she was wearing. She was strutting about between the tables, serving drinks to men who were slipping money into her pants and boots and then grabbing at any part of her mostly naked body they could reach.

"Uso, it's ladies night, come on!" the girl snapped as a wiry bat demon fondled her bare chest. "Tonight is the night the ladies strip. If you're not going to get to work waiting tables, get on the stage, get naked and get busy with either the pole, another dancer, or one of the paying customers!"

Botan, even with her current, hand-blinkered view, had never seen so many genitals at one time and in one place. She had once accompanied Ayame and two other ferry girls to the site of a mass suicide by a cult, a group of humans who had stripped naked and then drunk poison, but even that was nothing compared to what she was looking at in the "club". The woman shouting at her had said it was the turn of the ladies to strip, but Botan could see as many naked men as she could women. She could see genitals of all genders, shapes and sizes, and she could see some slimy things she could not recognise that may or may not have also been some kind of genitals.

"Uso, put out or get out!" another masked, topless girl warned Botan.

Botan considered those two options – then inwardly scolded herself for even pausing to do so – and then turned around and left the club. Doshu had told her to stay there, that it would safe there, that she would be with the other masqueraders there: but apparently the other masqueraders were strippers.

Botan paused, just past the bouncers at the doors of the club, the idea suddenly dawning on her that she now understood why the Border Patrol officers who had taken her to Demon World in the first place had described her as "selling her body and pretending to be human". She quickly moved on again when one of the bouncers grabbed at her arm and tried to tell her to get back inside, ducking out of his reach and bounding away from the club, out into the street of the demon city beyond.

She kept running, blindly down the middle of the road, only stopping when Doshu flew into her path. Doshu was quite a large bird, and her wide and deep wingspan cast quite an intimidating shadow over Botan.

"Why did you leave the club?" Doshu asked her, hovering on point ahead of Botan.

"It was a strip club, Doshu!" Botan snapped. "A club where people – both the staff and the patrons – were removing all of their clothing! It was disgusting!"

"That's what masqueraders do between jobs," Doshu casually replied, as though the answer was perfectly acceptable and normal.

"I will not strip for those disgusting monsters in there!" Botan sternly replied.

"Well you'll have to do something. You're stuck here, remember? And, sorry to say, I couldn't get your notebook back."

"What?"

"Yeah, I did find it, and I managed to sneak it out, but then your friend with the long brown hair saw me, and I had to flee before I got caught. I dropped the book on my way out: but I remember where it landed, and I don't think anyone will find it there. This way Uso doesn't have it – so you have nothing to worry about – so even though you didn't get it back, this is still good, right?"

"Wrong! Someone else might find it! What if Kuwabara was there – as he usually does end up turning up when we have a girls' weekend get-together – and he saw you go, saw you drop it, he picks it up and then he reads it!"

"Alright, if it means that much to you–"

"It does!"

"I can try again tomorrow."

"Oh but Doshu! That's one more day when someone might read private things from my notebook to other people who were never intended to hear those private things!"

Doshu gave Botan an incredulous look.

"Are you really more concerned about Uso exposing one of your fake diary entries than the fact that she is basically faking her way around your life right now?" the bird asked.

"I don't have anything else to worry about!" Botan shot back.

"Sure you do!" Doshu argued. "Uso doesn't know you. She doesn't know who you are, not really. She's just pretending to be you. She won't be behaving exactly like you. Aren't you more worried about what she does as you? Like what if she kills someone as you? What if she kills a human as you? Spirit World don't like demons or spirits killing humans, right?"

Botan was amazed that Doshu was even asking that question.

"Right?" Doshu pressed.

"Of course not!" Botan answered.

"Right. So what if she kills a human as you. What if everyone you know sees you kill a human?"

A long silence passed between Botan and Doshu.

"...I'd rather face the wrath of Spirit World than the wrath of Hiei, rejecting me because he's so disgusted by all my silly girlish fantasies about him..."

"Ugh, really?"

Botan nodded, her eyes blurring with tears.

"Okay, let's get you home."

Botan gasped.

"Uh, no, I meant back to your home here," Doshu explained.

"I have a home here?" Botan asked.

"It's nothing magnificent," Doshu warned. "It's just a small apartment, in a building most of the other masqueraders live in. And you do pay rent on it, so you will have to get to work soon – also, I live with you."

Botan narrowed her eyes suspiciously: she suspected something about what Doshu was telling her was not entirely accurate, however she was exhausted, and the thought of being able to close herself away into a private home and get some rest was too good a notion to pass up.

"Let's go," she resigned.

"Follow me," Doshu said.

The blue and pink bird circled around and flew down a side-street, and, with little else to do, Botan followed after her.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** With no clue of what else to do, Botan moves into Uso's apartment with Doshu: unfortunately, Uso's apartment is less than luxurious living. After almost being killed by a demon and then being robbed, Botan takes Doshu's advice and disguises herself as Uso to avoid further suspicion: but Botan takes the task one step further than just dressing like Uso. **Chapter 4b: Behind the Mask**

 **A/N:** B story is very isolationist, with 80-90% of it being just Botan and Doshu, but I did like the darker, more desperate, feel that gave it. I think it also helped bring along a lot of what has to happen to bring Botan and Doshu from where they are here, in chapter 3, to where they ended up in chapter 18...


	21. B Behind the Mask

**Chapter 4b: Behind the Mask**

Botan glanced at Doshu. She looked quite pathetic – though Botan doubted that she herself looked much better – drenched by the sudden downpour of rain they had been caught in, and were indeed still standing in. Doshu looked as tired and as ready to end the day as Botan felt, but neither made a move to continue inside.

When the bird demon had told Botan they were going to an apartment building where many of the masqueraders lived, no specific image of what such a place may look like had sprung to Botan's mind: and yet, upon arrival at their destination, she found herself looking up at a building that was far beyond even her most pessimistic expectations. From a distance, the apartment block had appeared much like an average building of its type found in Demon World: it was tall, made of a deep brown coloured material, generally rectangular in shape and the walls on all sides were lined with rows of windows. However, upon closer inspection, Botan could see that the windows of this particular building were in fact just holes. Through one of the holes on the lowest floor, she could see three jagged figures hunched around a fire, roasting the carcass of some kind of giant rat.

"It's not much to look at," Doshu began.

"The smell is far worse than how ugly it is," Botan flatly replied.

"Well if you don't like it, you do have two other choices," Doshu answered, her tone a little tense.

"Which are?" Botan pressed.

"You can go sell yourself to someone who will give you a bed in their house for the night, or you can go back to the club, earn some money, and buy a better place in a better neighbourhood."

Botan tried to give Doshu a disapproving look, but she was certain her attempt failed due to how bedraggled she looked.

"I suppose it will do for tonight," she conceded. "Which, um, part of this building belongs to me then?"

"Middle floor," Doshu replied.

Botan scanned up the building, taking a moment to consider the width and depth of the tower.

"All of the middle floor?" she asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, you're a masquerader, not a treasure raider!" Doshu scoffed. "You have two rooms up there. You share the floor with three other masqueraders."

"Are any of the other masqueraders fake masqueraders, like me?"

Doshu looked slightly confused for a moment before making a small "oh" sound.

"I don't think so," she concluded. "It isn't often a masquerader finds a victim. And most of those who do either don't last long, or else they last eternally, and the victim becomes a masquerader permanently."

"So those are my choices."

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

"I suppose a bit of both. My choices are die or accept my fate and convert? Become just like Uso?"

"Yes."

Botan nodded and together she and Doshu started towards the entrance of the apartment block.

"Doshu?"

"Yes?"

"Is Uso an original masquerader? Was she born that way, or is she a former victim who got trapped in this role, just like I am now?"

"Uso is an original."

"So am I her first victim?"

"No, no. She's had many before."

"Then…?"

"They died."

"All of them?"

"All of them."

"Well that's a cheerful thought to end the day on…"

Botan duly followed Doshu into an uncomfortably dark corridor, where she began awkwardly feeling her way up a set of uneven, winding stairs.

"It's very dark in here," she commented.

"Lucky that I glow in the dark then," Doshu flatly replied.

"You do?" Botan echoed.

"No, of course not!" Doshu snorted. "Wow, you are naïve. I can see now how Uso managed to trap you."

"She didn't trap me, she ambushed me!"

"Same thing…"

Botan wanted to argue her case but lacked the energy to, and what little mental vigour she had left was needed to concentrate on the task of mastering the dark staircase. Eventually Doshu swept around a corner ahead of her and they stepped out into a slightly lighter corridor. There were four doors off of the corridor – presumably to the four different apartments – only they were not so much doors as they were simply doorframes. The building apparently lacked doors as well as windows. Botan dragged her feet onwards and through one of the doorways, into a large, messy room, lit only by the two enormous holes that looked outside. The heavy rain was easily blowing into the apartment, and two small puddles had already formed under each window.

Botan momentarily felt a degree of sympathy for Uso: she too would be angry and desperate to escape if her life looked that terrible. But, no sooner had that thought occurred to her, than the further thought occurred to her that her life did now look that terrible, because she was now Uso. She sighed and moved over to a curious looking chest at the end of a very ragged old bed: the room they had entered appeared to serve as a living room, kitchen and bedroom all in one. She threw open the lid, recoiling as a couple of colourful, slimy insect scuttled out, before kneeling down to more closely inspect what she had uncovered.

For Botan, it might as well be a treasure chest: it was full of fancy costumes, shoes and jewellery.

"What is all this?" she asked, unable to even look at Doshu as she addressed her.

"This is my bed over here," Doshu called over from one corner of the room.

"What is this stuff, Doshu?" Botan asked.

Botan already knew that Doshu had lied about living in the apartment with Uso. It was clear the bird demon had never been allowed in, mainly as there was nothing there to suggest she lived there, but the prospect of living alone in a strange part of a strange world made her already unbearable situation become an entirely intolerable one, and so she decided not to address the issue of Doshu's obvious lie.

"Those are Uso's disguises," Doshu casually replied.

Botan sat back on her heels. It was curious, as she had a similar sized chest in her own bedroom in Spirit World, equally as untidily crammed full of a plethora of outfits, from the casual to the extravagant.

Maybe she and Uso had something in common after all.

Botan stood up and shook her head, refusing to accept that she had anything in common with such a nasty being. She moved into the one other room in the apartment, a decent-sized bathroom with questionable privacy, as the window was, again, just a giant hole in the wall, and it was positioned immediately behind the bath. Botan started across the room to determine whether the cloth hanging from the ceiling was a shower curtain or a set of window curtains, but she stopped just shy of her goal as she spotted something unusual on the floor by the window, propped between the toilet and the bath.

Botan glanced back over her shoulder, but saw no sign of Doshu having followed her in, and so she crouched down and retrieved the rustic but intricately crafted bow and quiver loaded with arrows. The weapon was clearly Uso's, as the arrows were all tailed by blue feathers like those found on the underside of Doshu's wings. Botan had used a bow and arrow a few times before, during her early training as a ferry girl, but never had a need to ever lift the weapon again afterwards. She had heard some of the older, longer-serving ferry girls say that it was a skill never forgotten once learned, and she decided to test that theory out. She selected an arrow and placed the quiver into the bath before giving the bow a few test stretches and then lifting it into place. She approached the window with the loaded weapon, scanning the street outside for an appropriate test target. By chance, directly across the street there was a shop of some sort, with a loose-hanging wooden sign above the window. The sign was wide and quite deep, and only swaying slightly in the wind, and so it seemed like a good, safe shot.

Botan stretched the bow out and then released the arrow, yelping quietly at how fast and hard the arrow was actually launched. However she did not have more than a split second to deal with her surprise, as a rough yell of pain from across the street and the brief image of a green-skinned, grey-bearded, tall, muscular demon with an arrow embedded in him had her dropped down into a low crouch, below the start of the window hole. As she heard the demon outside demand to know who had attacked him, she carefully laid down the bow and began crawling – on her belly – through the bathroom. She made it to the doorway before finding herself confronted by a curious Doshu.

"Shh!" she warned quietly, pressing a finger to her lips.

Doshu tilted her head questioningly, but at the sound of something scaling the exterior wall of the building, Botan scrambled to her feet and then dived under the bed, pushing Doshu under with her. The bird demon had the sense to remain silent as Botan squashed her into the floor, but as soon as they had stilled and Botan's victim began climbing in through the bathroom window, she moved her eyes up to the ferry girl.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"We are hiding," Botan replied, emphasising the "we" to justify why she was lying on top of Doshu.

"You understand you can't physically hide from a demon, right?" Doshu asked her.

Botan nodded her head but tried to find a way to justify herself in her mind as she did so: but again she was cut short as something grabbed one of her ankles. She screamed and began scrambling to escape, almost crushing Doshu entirely in her efforts. Somehow she got free and out from under the bed, but by then Doshu was in the air and her victim – the arrow still embedded in him – leapt over the bed at her. She screamed and on instinct made to summon her baseball bat, which she then swung at his head: but of course, her weapon never appeared, and she merely ended up awkwardly swinging around her empty hand, which she had misjudged her aim of as she had been anticipating supporting the weight of her favoured weapon. She managed to leap back, to her left and then to her right as the demon lunged at her twice, but on her third evasive manoeuvre, she found herself pushed onto the window-ledge. When he made another attempt to grab her, she again acted on instinct and leapt outside, holding up her hands with a pitiful spark before openly crying out that she had forgotten she no longer had ownership of her oar.

Botan fell almost all the way down to the street before Doshu managed to catch one of her wrists in both feet, beating her wings furiously against the weight and velocity of Botan's descent to barely bring her to a halt with her feet dangling mere inches from the road. Being caught that way and at such a speed had actually been quite painful, and Botan felt like her shoulder was on fire and somehow injured, but she said nothing as Doshu lowered her to the ground and finally released her. Together they darted across the street and looked back up at the apartment building, waiting until the demon in their apartment had thrown them a few angered curses, snapped off the arrow – leaving the end still embedded in his body – and stormed off.

"Botan?"

Botan looked down at Doshu. She could not tell if her new friend was still drenched from earlier, or if she had become so bedraggled since their escape from the apartment: it was raining so heavily, it was hard to be sure.

"Is there any particular reason why you thought it was a good idea to pick up a weapon you've never held before, aim it out the bathroom window, and shoot some guy in the ass?"

Doshu neither looked nor sounded mad, though Botan was sure that she must be.

"Well, in my defence, I wasn't actually aiming for his, um, derriere," Botan defended herself. "I wasn't even aiming for him at all: I was aiming for the wooden shop sign."

Doshu looked over her shoulder at the hanging shop sign behind them.

"That sign is made of metal," she concluded. "Your shot would have ricocheted and probably still hit someone anyway."

Botan looked over her shoulder at the sign in question, before grinning nervously down at Doshu, tapping the tips of her index fingers together.

"Not that sign," she said. "That one."

She pointed to the wooden sign she had in fact been aiming at, two buildings further along. Doshu looked in that direction for a long time before slowly turning her head to look forwards.

"You're a terrible shot," she grumbled, before shaking herself off.

Water sprayed out in every direction from her, but she still looked every bit as soaked through as she had before. She started to walk across the road, back towards the apartment building, and, after a moment considering the angle of trajectory and finding no justification in her own mind for why she had missed her target so horribly, Botan hurried after her.

"Oh Doshu?" she called out.

"Yes?" Doshu responded, looking back over her shoulder.

"Thank you for saving me," Botan replied. "You know, again."

"It's what I do," Doshu replied, turning her head away. "I'm your partner."

"Well I am grateful," Botan insisted. "I don't know what I would have done – or even where I might have ended up – if it weren't for you."

"It's nothing," Doshu casually replied. "And maybe one day you can return the favour. Maybe one day you can save me when I do something stupid."

"Oh you!" Botan said, laughing nervously.

"Let's just get some sleep, okay?"

Botan nodded, and together she and her bird friend began the dark, arduous climb back up to their new home together: a journey that really did make Botan miss her oar.

* * *

Botan rolled her head from one side and then to the other, before settling back to staring at the ceiling.

"It looks different in here this morning," she commented.

"That's because we've been robbed," Doshu plainly replied.

"Oh…"

Botan sat up.

"What did they take?"

"All the jewellery, all the money, some of the food and your bed."

Botan touched a hand to her forehead.

"Well I guess that explains why I'm laid on the floor right now," she said.

"You're going to have to make some changes now that you live in Demon World, you know," Doshu warned.

"Well, I've been thinking about that, Doshu," Botan said, lifting aside her blanket and sitting up. "And I've decided that I have to go back to Spirit World. If I can just speak to Lord Koenma directly, I can explain everything to him and he can arrest Uso and get me out of this mess."

"Well obviously you haven't been thinking too much about that," Doshu flatly replied. "Because if you had, you'd have thought that entering Spirit World as a demon – or more specifically, entering Spirit World as a demon with the power of masquerade – and trying to convince anyone there that you are actually a ferry girl isn't going to get you anywhere. You are a demon now, remember?"

"Well that's just a technicality! Koenma will be able to see the truth, I just need to talk to him directly!"

"And you honestly think security at Spirit World will take a demon directly to their leader just because she asks really nicely?"

Botan pouted at Doshu.

"You're not helping," she complained.

"I thought I was..." Doshu muttered.

"Well you're not!" Botan sternly replied.

She marched over to the large, ornate chest, which had been over-turned by the apparent burglars of the night before, but still appeared to contain some clothing. She grabbed it with both hands and began hauling it back over, as Doshu fluttered down to the floor and hopped over to watch her.

"I need to find something to wear," Botan explained as she finally righted the chest, the lid hanging open, one hinge broken. "I want to look my best."

"Well, Uso certainly has plenty of outfits," Doshu replied. "Her clothing was as much her weapon as her bow and arrow was."

Botan began clawing through the piles of clothing, all the while trying to suppress the vague idea that she was actually quite impressed with Uso's collection of outfits, and that the idea of putting on a new outfit and becoming someone else actually sounded quite fun.

"While you're doing that, I'll go back to the human world and get your notebook back for you," Doshu offered.

"No, forget about that for now," Botan replied. "It's more important that I get back to my own life."

"That's not going to happen..."

"Doshu!"

Doshu gave Botan a hard look before slumping slightly in apparent resignation.

"Alright fine," she said. "I'll help you do this, but we do it my way."

"Which is...?" Botan asked.

"You dress as Uso, we get something to eat, and then I'll take you to the least guarded portal I know of. It leads to the human world – is that good enough?"

"It's a start. But why do I have to dress as Uso?"

"Because everybody in Demon World knows Uso. And every good masquerader knows that the best way to win a fight is to never get into one in the first place."

"I'm still not following you..."

"If you look just like Uso, if you act just like Uso, everyone will think you are Uso, and nobody will bother you. If, however, you wander around Demon World dressed like a ferry girl pretending to be a human and ask stupid questions, you will be a target for trouble."

Botan nodded slowly.

"Yes, I understand that," she agreed. "I myself have often used my clothing to disguise myself cunningly, to play a role, to–"

"Here, put these on."

Doshu had dragged two items of black clothing from the chest with her beak. She gathered them up in her feet and flew to one corner of the room with them. Botan followed here, realising then that there was a screen there where she could change her clothing without the fear of being seen through any of the giant open holes in the walls of the apartment that were meant to be windows. She righted the screen and slipped behind it before accepting the garments from Doshu, who promptly flew back to the chest. Although the screen was high and wide, Botan still felt incredibly exposed when she removed her dress and so she very quickly pulled on the clothing Doshu had given her, shortly finding herself dressed in a part of very short black shorts with frayed hems and a black vest that – whilst it was a conservative cut around her neck and shoulders – clung to her body in a way that left very little to the imagination.

"You know I'm not so sure about this, Doshu," she commented.

"Take these," Doshu said, appearing over the top of the screen with a pair of black ankle boots in her feet.

Botan accepted the boots and changed into them without complaint, as they were at least an improvement from the plimsolls she had been wearing. They were sturdy and strong but still quite pretty to look at, and she again found herself begrudgingly admiring Uso's fashion.

"And you'll need this."

Botan looked up, her brows immediately twisting as her eyes landed on the contents of Doshu's feet.

"Goodness, what is that thing?" Botan asked.

"A very important part of your outfit," Doshu replied. "Take it, there's more."

Doshu opened her feet and flew off, the item falling into Botan's arms a little awkwardly. She held it up, finding that it appeared to be three braided black leather belts, inexplicably welded together in an odd arrangement.

"And this of course, this is very important."

Doshu dropped another item onto Botan, who did nothing to catch it, though by chance it landed atop the odd trio of belts she was holding. Botan lifted the newest item and dropped the belts – which she neither liked the look of nor understood – and she focussed her attention instead on very pretty eye mask Doshu had given her. In style, it was vaguely reminiscent of the mask Koenma had worn as part of his disguise when they had attended the Demon World Tournament: but it was much more decorated. I was black, and moulded to fit around her face, to cover her nose and most of her forehead, the outer, upper edges coming to sharp peaks, one side decorated with half a dozen of the delicate, long-stemmed blue feathers that sprouted from the top of Doshu's head. Botan donned the mask, finding that it was as comfortable as it was pretty, and she stepped out from behind the screen.

"Your masque is very important," Doshu commented. "All masqueraders wear one when they are working."

Botan gasped and darted into the bathroom, recovering the bow and quiver of arrows from where she had abandoned them the day before.

"And if I carry this also, I will look just like Uso!" she said.

"Almost," Doshu replied. "You should take this too."

Doshu hopped across the floor and dropped an item at Botan's feet. Botan bent down and retrieved it, finding that it was a small black belt, attached to a large knife encased in a sheath. She slowly withdrew the blade, finding that it had serrated teeth and was lethally sharp and gleaming.

"What do you expect me to do with this thing?" she asked as she dropped the knife back into its case.

"Wear it around your left thigh, like Uso did," Doshu replied. "Are you right-handed?"

"Yes," Botan replied.

"That's useful, Uso was too."

Botan reluctantly attached the small belt around her leg as Doshu had instructed, telling herself that she would never have to use the weapon, and to think of it more as a fashion accessory, like those pretty garters she saw girls wearing in the fashion magazines Keiko liked to read.

"And you will absolutely need this."

Botan frowned as Doshu flew over her head with the odd belts again. She started to protest, but Doshu dropped them over her head and began guiding her in attaching them to herself. After a few misguided attempts, Botan eventually had the item in place: one belt fastened around her waist, and the over two fastened over her shoulders, running vertically up the front of her body and forming a cross over her back. Botan paused to look at herself in a dusty old mirror on one wall: and she had to admit – inside her own mind, not out loud – that she no longer looked like herself. Her hair, which had been soaked through the night before and then slept (roughly) in, was sitting big and wild, and the ends were starting to curl: the masque she was wearing was actually serving a helpful double purpose of hiding most of her face to help obscure her visual identity and it was helping keep her wild hair out of her face. She almost never wore black, and she thought that this was the first time she had worn an outfit that was entirely black, and suddenly her hair looked very blue and her eyes, mostly hidden behind the masque, looked very pink. Doshu handed her a pair of black leather fingerless gloves which she put on: the gloves were a little worn and yet soft and comfortable for it.

"So what now?" she asked, still watching her almost alien reflection.

"Now we get some breakfast," Doshu replied.

Botan turned from the mirror and gathered up the bow and quiver of arrows again, easing them over her shoulder to rest diagonally across her back, from shoulder to hip. Doshu had flown out of the largest window, and Botan moved over towards her, stopping at the wall.

"Climb out the window," Doshu told her.

Without thinking, Botan did as her friend asked and climbed up onto the window-ledge, positioning herself in a crouch, with one hand holding the window-frame at her side and the other barely touching the window-ledge to steady herself.

"Now let go," Doshu said.

Botan let go with her hands, her weight rocking slightly, and her eyes peering down at the steep drop to the street below. In that moment, she remembered that she was at least 17 floors from the ground and she no longer had use of her oar. She started to panic, a feeling that only escalated when Doshu moved around behind her and gripped her scaly toes into the belts over each of Botan's shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Botan cried. "What are we doing? This is madness!"

Doshu settled onto her, resting her weight on Botan's shoulders in a way that threatened to push her out of the window altogether.

"Just relax, Botan," Doshu said. "Just breathe and believe."

Botan had heard those words before – from Uso – and something terrible had followed. She started to say that she had changed her mind, but her voice dissolved into a scream as Doshu's long, wide wings swept down at either side of her, engulfing her entirely in her crouched position. As Doshu's wings lifted, so did Botan, her body being pulled upwards. She was soon in an upright position, her toes teetering on the very edge of the window-ledge. Doshu's wings swept down over her once more before she was lifted free of the window and moving across the street.

Botan screamed all the way across the road and over the roof of the buildings opposite, and did not stop until they had flown free of the demon city altogether.

"I didn't know you were afraid of heights!" Doshu commented as Botan finally fell silent.

"I'm a ferry girl, heights are nothing!" Botan replied. "But usually when I'm flying, the thing that keeps me in the air is beneath me, usually I'm sitting securely on it. Flying because of something that's above me is a new and very strange sensation!"

"Well I'm not big enough to carry you on my back, I'm afraid," Doshu said. "And this is how I carry Uso around."

"W-well if she can do it, so can I!"

Botan tried to relax, and, as they flew over a stampeding heard of some kind of demon ponies, she started to feel as though she was flying with wings that were actually her own. It was actually quite freeing: unlike on her oar, her arms were completely free, and she could move her legs without fear of falling off.

"This is actually quite fun!" she concluded. "Let's get breakfast and let's fix this mess, Doshu!"

Botan punched a fist forward in the direction they were flying and whooped in delight as Doshu stiffened her wings out at her sides and they soared downwards in a smooth arc. For the first time since her horrible meeting with Uso, Botan began to feel hope that her misery would be soon coming to an end.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Doshu is confused by Botan's kindness towards her, Hiei returns to Demon World and has a brief conversation with Butachu about Uso (but actually it was Botan), and Doshu continues loyally reporting back to Uso, who sets her a on a little mission. **Chapter 5b: Partners**

 **A/N:** This part of B story feels really slow after how A story ended – I guess A story overall kept going at a good pace and picked up towards the end, whereas B story is a lot of "near-misses" of Botan almost being saved/getting home, and then it ramps out of control towards the end...


	22. B Partners

**Chapter 5b: Partners**

Botan's hands were raw and her shoulders weak: she had forgotten just how physically taxing using a bow and arrow actually was. She had finally run out of arrows, though she did have the option of collecting most of them to fire again, since only two of the arrows she had fired had actually hit anything, the others all flying off wildly before eventually falling to the ground when gravity overtook the momentum of their initial forward motion. She was standing one hundred yards back from a cluster of tall, dark trees, and she had been aiming for a lighter imperfection halfway up one of the trees near the middle of the mini forest. All her arrows had flown away, some flying over the tops of the trees entirely, some falling to the ground before they even reached the trees, and some flying out wildly to either side of the trees. Two of her arrows had hit actual trees, though neither landed on her intended target or even the correct tree. She concluded that Uso must be rather physically strong to use the weapon with any degree of effectiveness, and, just as she had given up and sat down onto a rock, Doshu finally returned, swooping in silently and at a speed Botan still found impressive.

"We were too late, most of the food was gone," the bird demon announced as she came to a hover before Botan. "Pick one."

Botan stood up, looking down at Doshu's feet. One was holding a yellow apple, the other was holding a red pear.

"Well, which do you prefer, Doshu?" she asked.

Doshu gave her an odd look, searching her eyes for a moment as though she thought the question was a trick one somehow.

"The apple is sweet and crunchy," she eventually answered. "It's my favourite."

"It was lucky there was one left then," Botan commented.

One of Doshu's eyes twitched noticeably.

"I... Specifically fought to get the apple," she admitted.

"Oh I see," Botan said, nodding her head. "In that case, it must be very delicious."

"It really is..." Doshu replied in a strangely flat tone.

"Then of course you should have it," Botan concluded. "And I will take the pear."

Botan put her hand around the pear, but not only could she not take from Doshu, but she saw the skin of the fruit wrinkle as Doshu tightened her grip of it.

"Really?" she asked.

Botan slowly moved her eyes from the pear to Doshu's face.

"You said you like the apple best of all, and you said you fought hard to get it," Botan said slowly. "And I just stayed here and wasted time trying to work Uso's weapon, I did nothing to help, I'm lucky you even brought me anything at all. Don't you want the apple?"

"Of course I want it, it's one of the tastiest fruits in all of Demon World!" Doshu replied, sounding suddenly irritated.

"So then take it and let me have the pear!" Botan snapped back, forcibly wrestling the pear from her toes.

Once she had the pear free, Botan quickly took a bite out of it, glowering at Doshu in what she thought was an appropriate response to her new friend's sudden snippiness: however her sneer quickly vanished when the juices of the fruit filled her mouth and her entire face puckered and a shiver ran down the length of her body.

"The pears are horribly bitter!" Doshu yelled at her. "They don't even compare to the apples!"

Botan slowly swallowed the half-chewed contents of her mouth, mostly to get rid of the taste, and partly to prove the next point she was about to make.

"Well I'm hungry!" she said sternly. "And so must you be, so shut up and eat your delicious apple, and stop being so rude!"

Doshu lowered herself onto the rock Botan had been sitting on and slowly and purposefully moved the apple towards her open beak. Botan made a point of taking another large bite out of the disgusting, sour, bitter pear, her eyes watering against the hideous taste as she watched Doshu slowly bite into the apple: even the sound of her biting into it was delicious.

"Is it good?" Botan asked her through a mouthful of nauseating fruit pulp.

"It's delicious," Doshu quietly replied, narrowing her eyes at Botan suspiciously. "Why don't you take a bite, taste it for yourself?"

Botan shot Doshu a sideward, accusing look, but when Doshu merely responded by holding the apple out towards her, Botan slowly sat down at her side, swallowing the pear and then leaned down, her eyes never leaving Doshu's, and took a small bite out of the apple she held. She slowly straightened up again as she chewed, and fought to keep her face stern as the flavour filled her mouth.

"It's delicious, isn't it?" Doshu shouted at her angrily.

"It's incredible!" Botan wailed. "I don't ever want to swallow it, I want to taste it forever!"

"Why aren't you stealing it off of me?"

Botan abruptly swallowed, her eyes doubling in size.

"Why would I do that?" she asked.

"Because I'm just your partner!" Doshu wailed. "I'm just a tool you use! I'm nothing without you, I need you to survive, you're supposed to take advantage of me and make me suffer and I'm supposed to be grateful for it! Don't you understand anything about this world?"

"Well, I understand now that you have a lot to learn about good manners, Missy," Botan concluded, before once more biting into the rancid pear.

"Why are you still eating that thing? Oh – wait – no – now I understand! You are going to eat the whole thing, then steal the apple from me and leave me with nothing to eat at all!"

"Doshu! Don't say things like that!"

"What sort of demon are you?"

"I'm not a demon, Doshu, I'm a ferry girl!"

"Not any more you're not!"

Botan stood up abruptly and pushed her fists against her hips.

"Now you listen here, Miss Doshu," she said sternly. "I don't care what Uso did to me. I don't care about this–"

Botan lifted her free hand from her hip and waved it in the air, illuminated in demon energy.

"–because what she has done to me might have changed what I am – or what I appear to be – but what she has done – and anything anyone else ever does – will never change who I am! And who I am is Botan! And Botan is a person who does not treat her friends poorly! Do you understand?"

Doshu numbly nodded her head.

"Now shut-up and eat your apple!" Botan snapped, before sitting down hard at Doshu's side and continuing to eat the horrible pear.

At her side, Doshu quietly and delicately ate the apple – the entire apple, Botan noticed, without dropping so much as a single pip – before wiping away any excess juices from her beak by rubbing it against the rock. She then shook herself all over and turned to look at Botan, who had, by then, eaten the flesh from the pear, and was left holding the core.

"Are you going to eat that?" Doshu asked her, nodding her head at the core in Botan's hand.

"No, but do you really want it?" Botan asked. "It is really quite horrid."

Doshu looked at the pear remains for a long time before moving her eyes to Botan's.

"The secret to using the bow and arrow is that you need to first of all hold it correctly," she said. "And then, in order to make the arrows fly further, faster, and with more accuracy, you need to infuse them with your demon energy. That's how Uso did it. She used to say that the best way to aim was to point your index fingers, on the hand holding the bow and the hand holding the arrow. She said point at the target, just relax, then just breathe and believe."

Botan had heard Uso use exactly those words before, and what had followed had been far from pleasant.

"Just take me to the portal to the living world so that I can go home," she said.

Doshu looked down for a moment, a strange look passing over her face before she nodded and took to the air. Botan stood up and before she could even ask which direction they should go, Doshu had grabbed her up and carried her into the air. Botan decided to just enjoy the flight – after all, it would likely be her last – and began instead planning inside her head how exactly she was going to negotiate her way into Spirit World and how she would explain everything to Koenma.

* * *

"Where do you think you're going?"

Hiei groaned and turned to throw a piercing glare back at the rat-faced, ageing man limping towards him.

"Instead of sulking in a tree someplace, how about you get back to work?" the man sneered as he neared Hiei. "We're all working double-shifts – and I've had to leave my job at the laboratory to go out on patrol because you're refusing to work! Mukuro is a fool for allowing you to slack off at a time like this!"

"Hn, I'm surprised your frail bones can endure riding in a patrol unit," Hiei shot back, feeling inwardly quite pleased with his witty comeback.

"I shouldn't have to do this, you should be the one out on patrol, not me!"

Hiei ran his eyes over the miserable old man – a once powerful and unfortunately quite intelligent demon that Mukuro liked to keep around – acknowledging that he did look rather more haggard than usual, as though being made to work the Border Patrol in Hiei's absence was indeed taking its toll on him.

"Have you even had anything to do, other than sit in the vehicle all day?" Hiei asked him.

He was certain the answer would be negative, but he was vaguely curious to hear otherwise.

"Not especially," the old man reluctantly admitted. "I picked up one of those masked whores, but that was about it."

Hiei's face twitched slightly in what the old man apparently perceived to be an indication of interest.

"A masquerader," he explained. "Have you ever encountered one of them before, or are you still too young for that sort of thing, boy?"

"I know what a masquerader is, old man," Hiei flatly replied. "But unlike you, I am not so desperate for reassurance of my ego that I need to let some D-class fool lie to me and steal from me."

"This one is particularly good at her craft," the old man snarled. "If you'd ever met her, you'd think differently. There isn't a man alive – demon, human or spirit – who can resist that one."

"Hn, so does that mean your wallet's a little lighter since your recent encounter with her?"

"I had the boys throw her out. I'm not stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice."

"If you say so."

"I do!"

"It sounds like you have everything in hand, so you don't need anything from me – and I am certainly not offering, either. I still have no interest in assisting Spirit World in this madness, and I am yet to figure out why Mukuro would aid them so."

"Maybe because she's a little older – and a lot smarter – than you, and she can see the benefit of giving a little sometimes."

"Why don't you go back to pretending that pretty young girls are interested in you for reasons other than any gold you're carrying on you, old man?"

Hiei turned and marched on, ignoring the muttering old man stomping away behind him. He slowed to a halt as he heard the patrol vehicle start up, and he turned to watch it depart: and as it did so, Hiei felt a small twinge of something, as though there was something nearby, watching him. He tensed, focusing on feeling out for whatever it was. The majority of forces that existed in Demon World were of little concern for Hiei, but, after Sensui, he often felt that minor, physically weak threats often ended up being far more bother than powerful ones.

"Hi."

Hiei looked up as a very large, colourful bird swept through the sky towards him.

"Are you Hiei?" it called out to him.

"Don't bother me," Hiei warned it.

"I have a message for you," the bird quickly replied as it came to a hover, apparently at least having the sense to remain high enough up in the air that it was out of his immediate reach.

"Nobody of consequence would send me a message by bird," Hiei said.

"I need to ask you about Botan."

Hiei found it highly unusual that a bird – a bird that was clearly not a messenger, but rather, given it's broad chest and mighty wings, a partner demon – was mentioning a ferry girl by name to him, especially as they were both currently standing in Demon World.

"You know Botan, right?" the bird asked. "The ferry girl, Botan."

Hiei was not stupid.

"I don't know who or what you are talking about," he coldly replied. "No get out of my sight before I am forced to waste effort killing you – and know that it would be no effort for me to destroy you."

The bird shot up a few feet higher in the air, hovered there a moment longer, and then shot off, in the opposite direction it had approached him from. He thought it was probably moving away in a different direction to avoid revealing where it had come from, but in doing so it had clearly underestimated Hiei's interest in the whims of such a weak creature as itself. He turned and moved on, running, though not at his maximum speed, taking himself back to his camp site to wait out the remainder of the dispute over the borders between Spirit World and Demon World.

* * *

Doshu peered down through the clouds, scanning around the landscape for a long time, making absolutely sure that Hiei had completely disappeared before daring to drop back down below the clouds, into sight of anyone on ground level, and taking herself back to the point where Botan had dispatched her from. She had taken Botan to the most common, most open portal to the living world, expecting that Botan would go through and shortly return, after being caught by anyone who recognised her only as a demon, and banished her back to Demon World: however, as they had neared their destination, they had encountered a Border Patrol vehicle – by chance the very same Border Patrol vehicle that had picked up Botan after she had inherited Uso's demon energy, and thrown her from a mountainside, casting her out into Demon World, where she had only been spared death thanks to Doshu's timely intervention. Not wishing for a repeat of what had brought her to Demon World, Botan had suggested they hide and wait until the vehicle moved on: but it never did. Instead, a demon eventually leapt through the portal from the human world side, and Botan promptly identified him as Hiei, and ordered Doshu to meet with him.

As Doshu returned to the point where she had left Botan, she found the former ferry girl sitting on the ground, her legs arranged awkwardly before her as though she had fallen into that position, and her still masked face buried in her hands.

"He wouldn't talk to me," Doshu said as she landed on the ground near Botan's side. "He said–"

"I heard what he said."

Botan's voice was low and even, but betraying a hint of sadness.

"You did?" Doshu asked.

"Yes, I did," Botan confirmed. "He said he didn't know who or what I was."

"Right, yes, he did say that," Doshu agreed.

"He's so ashamed of me, he won't even admit that he knows me."

Doshu shrugged.

"I think he was just suspicious that another demon was asking him about someone from Spirit World," she suggested.

Botan shook her head and let her hands fall to her sides.

"That's not it," she said. "He-he's too ashamed to admit that he knows me, because I mean nothing to him – I know it's true. It started out that I just thought about him a lot, during the Dark Tournament, I started having... Well, you know, specific thoughts about him, and that was all it was, but then I started to develop real feelings for him, and I tried to communicate to him that I liked him as more than a friend and that it would be super if he felt the same way, but I've never been in that situation before, and I didn't know how to get his attention: Keiko made it look so easy, boys are always interested in her, and Shizuru said all I needed to do to get a boy's attention was to find excuses to accidentally touch him, or brush up against him, but every time I did that, he just thought I was a clumsy idiot, oh Doshu, it's terrible, he hates me, and now if he finds out what I wrote about him in my notebook it will just be the end of me, I have to get my book back–"

"Botan!"

Botan finally stopped talking upon Doshu's sharp interruption.

"Okay, I'll go now and bring back your notebook," Doshu offered.

"Oh, Doshu, you are such a sweetheart!" Botan said. "You will be saving me yet again!"

"It's no problem."

Doshu took off, ignoring Botan's incessant gratitude, taking herself swiftly through the portal and, with no idea of where else to go, she headed for the temple she had found Uso at the night before. As she reached her destination, it quickly became clear to Doshu that something had changed, there was little life to be felt around the temple, but, by chance, as she was circling the building for a third time, she caught an inkling of something pure, like the aura given off by a spirit.

Seconds later, Doshu was falling towards the temple roof, the pain in her back where she had been hit overwhelming her ability to control her wings, which simply remained rigid upright and useless at her sides. She hit the roof hard, bouncing on her chest and inflicting another wound in the process, before coming to a rest. Before she could move, a foot stamped down hard on her right wing.

"What are you doing here?"

Doshu turned her head and peered up at the shadow standing over her.

"Milady?" she asked.

"I have no need for you right now," Uso spat back at her. "All I need from you right now is for you to remain in Demon World, and keep that bitch Botan there. Is that really so difficult for you?"

"No, Ma'am," Doshu replied. "It's just that... Ma'am, honestly, I don't think I can do it."

"Can't, or won't?" Uso asked.

"Can't!" Doshu insisted. "You don't understand, this ferry girl, she isn't fit for life in Demon World, Milady! She doesn't understand even the most basic principles of our world! She's so vulnerable! It's too much!"

"I already told you what to do, were you not listening, or are you just so stupid that you forgot already? Either you keep her there, or you sell her to a slave master. A slave master will keep her sheltered from our world, because he will never let her out. Also, he'll keep her alive for all eternity, so that he can have his use out of her body. Why is that so difficult for you? I'm not even asking you to share with me the price you get for her."

Doshu looked down at the roof tiles, no longer able to look her mistress in the eye as she found herself feeling, for the first time ever, that she might not actually be able to follow through with a request from her boss.

"Have you forgotten what you are, bird?" Uso asked.

"No, Ma'am," Doshu quietly replied.

"What are you?"

Doshu hesitated to answer, upon which, Uso ground her foot into her wing, tearing loose a few primary feathers.

"I'm your partner, Ma'am!" she hurriedly answered.

"Well, that's what you call yourself, but really, you're my pet," Uso replied. "And your survival depends upon you doing exactly what I tell you to. Now do you have anything useful to tell me about Botan?"

"She... She never told Hiei she had feelings for him, it was all just fantasy," Doshu miserably replied. "She thinks he isn't interested – and I saw him, in Demon World, and when he heard her name, he denied even knowing her, and he didn't even seem to care."

"Hm, well, that just means that I have step up my game."

"Maybe you shouldn't go after him, Ma'am."

"He is second in command to Mukuro, and being his wife would give me free access to all three worlds, it would seal my fate, and give me a powerful position in our world, and, as Botan the ferry girl, a realistic rank in Spirit World. Do you have any idea how many priceless demon treasures are being held in Spirit World?"

"No, Ma'am."

"Well I bet Botan knows, so go find out, and don't come back here until you do."

Uso finally lifted her foot and Doshu slowly stood up.

"Get out of here," Uso warned her. "I can't be seen talking to a piece of Demon World vermin filth like you."

Not needing to be told twice, Doshu winced against the pains in her back, chest and wing and took to the air.

"Hurry, hurry!" Uso warned, summoning an oar.

Doshu took off as fast as she could with her pains, but Uso was quick to follow her – though she had no real idea why – but thankfully Uso ceased her pursuit very abruptly as they reached the edge of the temple grounds, and Doshu was able to escape back to Demon World, where she found Botan sitting on the ground where she had left her.

Doshu paused, midair. Botan was crying, and, despite the fact that the ferry girl was really just a lot of hard work for her, she found herself feeling oddly bad about her misery.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Botan continues to show friendship to Doshu, who starts to genuinely consider her exactly that: a friend. But Doshu is still bound to her mistress, and when she reports back to Uso, she is sent on a mission to the ice village, whilst Uso sets out to upset Yusuke. Later, Yusuke and Hiei meet in Demon World, and have a conversation that leaves Hiei with much to think about. **Chapter 6b: News from Home**


	23. B News from Home

**Chapter 6b: News from Home**

"Botan?"

Botan shook herself off and turned to give Doshu a radiant smile.

"Did you find my notebook?" she asked.

"Sorry Botan, no, I didn't find it," Doshu replied, settling on the ground at Botan's side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Botan lied. "I have a very good feeling about today! You see I have had another fantastic idea for how I can get out of this mess!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes! We should visit Yusuke! He will know the real me when he sees me, and he will help me get back home and get back to myself! And, when that happens, just think Doshu: it means Uso will be able to come back here to Demon World! You must miss Uso, if the two of you were partners, well, that's as good as being best friends! Do you miss Uso, Doshu?"

A very odd look passed over Doshu's face.

"I am Uso's partner," she carefully replied. "That means I ran errands for her and carried her around with me, and in return, she fed me and protected me from more powerful demons."

"Silly, I know you worked with Uso, but that wasn't what I meant!" Botan answered. "I meant that the two of you are partners, always together, true friends! Where I come from – in Spirit World – and in fact even in the human world – the word "partner" can mean someone you work alongside, as equals, but it also means your friend, or even your lover! It's a very sweet term. I just meant that you and Uso must have been the best of friends, and I'm sure I'm nothing like she is – other than, you know, physically – so I know I can't be the same sort of friend to you that Uso was."

"No. That's true. You really are nothing like Uso."

"I think Uso is very lucky to have such a helpful and patient friend as you, Doshu."

"Yeah..."

"It's too bad you and I can't stay friends. I suppose once I get back to being myself, and Uso comes back here, she probably won't be very happy towards me, and you and I couldn't really continue to spend time together – not if you're always with Uso."

Doshu looked up at the sky for a long moment – so long that Botan began to wonder if the bird demon had fallen into a daydream.

"So, do you know the way to Yusuke's home in Demon World?" she tried. "He lives in the tower that once belonged to Raizen. You must know who Raizen was, he was one of the three Kings of Demon World."

"That's a long way from here," Doshu replied, finally turning to look at Botan again. "That journey could take several days, and it could be dangerous. We would need to plan and prepare for a journey like that very carefully."

"Is it a journey you could make – on your own, without me – much faster?" Botan asked.

"I can't leave you alone in Demon World," Doshu immediately answered.

"I don't have my communicator, and without it, I have no way of reaching anyone without actually going to them, and without my oar... If only there was a way I could borrow someone else's communicator to call Yusuke or even Koenma..."

Doshu nodded and then brightened.

"I have an idea!" she said. "I could go to the living world and get a communicator for you! Who has one?"

"Well Kuwabara and Kurama each have one," Botan replied. "And they both go to the university where Uso found me."

"Got it, I'll be right back."

Doshu took off at great speed and shot back through the portal: and at that point, Botan began wondering how Doshu would know where to go. She concluded that Doshu may have even been with Uso the day they met in the human world, and trusted that her friend would do as she needed.

* * *

Doshu was aiming for the temple, the place where she had just left Uso, assuming that she would find her mistress still there: but instead, she almost flew right into her as she met her leaving the area.

"What are you doing back here?" Uso yelled at her as they drew level in the air. "Are you trying to ruin things for me? And do you have any idea how difficult it is to control this stupid oar? I can't keep making emergency stops in the air because of idiots like you!"

"But Milady, I have important information for you!" Doshu quickly replied.

"It really better be important," Uso warned.

"It is," Doshu assured her. "Botan has asked me to help her find Yusuke. She thinks Yusuke will know who she really is when he sees her. Maybe you should avoid meeting with him yourself."

"As usual bird, you bring me too little information too late: I just ran into Yusuke. He almost had me fooled too, he appears as little more than a human boy. He is incredibly well-versed in suppressing his true power. I thought he was just some dumb teenager who had wandered up to the temple to masturbate."

"Botan thinks he would be very helpful. You should be really careful how you deal with Yusuke."

"I made him think his human girlfriend is having an affair with one of his best friends. It wasn't too difficult to force the issue, that girl's book suggested there might be something there, I just had to exaggerate it a little, and his fragile ego quickly snapped."

"Oh... But, which friend did you implicate?"

"The pretty one. Kurama."

"But Ma'am, what if Yusuke goes looking Kurama and finds him?"

Uso's face slowly fell, her eyes flicking about as her brain worked through that idea.

"Shit!" she cursed as she apparently came to the same understanding as Doshu. "I have to stop him!"

"Let me help, Milady," Doshi offered. "I can make sure he is silenced and doesn't bother you again."

"No, let me take care of Yusuke," Uso insisted. "He'll tear right through a worthless wretch like you, but he won't touch me – he can't. I need you to take care of another matter for me, one that is equally as important."

"Anything for you, Ma'am."

"I had to silence that interfering Shizuru woman, she was too suspicious and I didn't trust her not to ruin things for me. I reported her to Koenma in Spirit World: I told them she was liaising with demons, that she appeared to have been fooled into giving information away or else was just infatuated with a demon. Because the report came from Koenma's favourite ferry girl, he didn't question it, and he immediately sent her to prison in Spirit World. The problem I now have is that, for some reason, that silly little girl Yukina went to visit her. I don't trust Yukina either: she pretends to be all sweet and innocent, but that's an act I, as a fellow demon woman, know only too well. She's trouble, and I need her gone. She's an ice maiden, I need you to go to her village and tell them Yukina has revealed their location and is a threat. The rest will take care of itself, and that will get her out of my hair."

"Okay, I can do that. But... I need something from you."

Uso narrowed her eyes to glare at Doshu in a way she knew only too well, and never enjoyed being on the receiving end of.

"Botan asked me to get her a communicator, so that she could call her friends," Doshu began.

"And you honestly think you should let her have one?" Uso asked incredulously. "You really are nothing without me, I've been gone for two days, and look how stupid you've become already!"

"I meant for you to give me a broken one," Doshu hurriedly explained. "So that she thinks I tried to help, so that I can fool her a little longer – not so that she can actually call her friends."

Uso looked less than convinced, but eventually produced a small, circular gold object. She closed her fists around it until it cracked several times before tossing it at Doshu, who deftly caught it in one foot.

"Good luck, Milady," Doshu bid her.

"Don't mess up, bird," Uso answered her. "Because if you do, I will end you."

Doshu nodded and the two parted ways. And, although it was not a task she relished – for a number of reasons – Doshu did as her mistress had instructed, and took herself back to Demon World and directly to the ice village.

* * *

Hiei growled quietly under his breath before idly flinging a stone into the shadows.

"It's good to see you too, Hiei."

Hiei glowered over the fire he had built as Yusuke stepped into the light of it, one hand in his jean pocket, the other throwing the stone Hiei had hurled at him into the air and catching it again.

"If Koenma sent you, he's an even bigger fool than I thought," Hiei warned.

"Nope, not here because of the little idiot from Spirit World, I'm here because of the flying idiot from Spirit World," Yusuke replied.

Hiei watched as Yusuke sat opposite him and began helping himself to food. As though Hiei had invited him to, Yusuke brazenly peeled a strip of flesh from the meat Hiei was roasting over the fire, holding it up in the air above his head and tilting back his head to lower it into his open mouth.

"I didn't say you could join me," Hiei pointed out.

Yusuke grinned at him mid-chew.

"And you still eat like an animal," Hiei added.

"So Botan told me about the two of you," Yusuke replied.

Hiei's face dropped. What was wrong with that woman lately?

"If idle chatter is what you seek, I wonder why you came to me," he said. "You should have stayed with her: she likes to talk nonsense better than anyone."

"So it's nonsense?" Yusuke asked. "Is that what you're telling me? You and Botan aren't really a thing?"

Hiei tensed as the sudden realisation of his situation dawned on him.

"Hn, I didn't think she had it in her," he concluded aloud.

"I didn't think she had it in her either, but she's going around telling everybody that you put it in her..." Yusuke said, smirking in that insolent way that he did when he thought he had outsmarted someone.

"You put her up to this," Hiei calmly replied. "This is your idea of a joke. You made her say those things because you like to make a joke about her having feelings for me. Very funny, Yusuke."

Yusuke paused, partway through helping himself to yet more of Hiei's food, uninvited.

"Hiei, I didn't put her up to anything, I swear," he said.

"Well then how else would explain her behaviour?" Hiei asked.

"I dunno, but something's definitely off with her," Yusuke replied, peeling loose another strip of meat. "She's so far off right now, she actually just told me Keiko might have a thing for Kurama. I mean, can you believe that?"

Hiei waited until Yusuke had dangled the meat into his mouth and started to chew before answering him.

"Keiko does have a thing for Kurama."

Yusuke immediately began to choke.

"But that hardly explains why the ferry girl is being so brash lately," Hiei added.

"What?" Yusuke asked, a piece of food flying out of his mouth as he continued to choke.

"Something else is going on," Hiei said.

"No, forget about Botan, what did you just say about Keiko and Kurama?"

Hiei grinned darkly.

"It's not so funny to be on the receiving end of a joke about a girl's affections now is it, Yusuke?" he asked.

Yusuke composed himself, wiping a sleeve over his mouth, and stood up, leaning over the fire towards Hiei.

"This is completely different, three eyes!" he yelled. "You and Botan? That's a joke! Me and Keiko? That's different!"

Hiei paused, watching the flickering firelight dancing in Yusuke's eyes. He knew that it was a joke. He knew that Kurama and Yusuke – and sometimes it was difficult to say which was worse – enjoyed teasing him about ridiculous things, and a ferry girl having any sort of feelings for him was ridiculous. She was just clumsy and overly friendly, and the only reason she got awkward or sometimes physical around him was just because she was trying harder to be his friend, because she thought he was more in need of friendship. It was pity. It was her. That was how she was.

"If it bothers you this much, I wonder why you don't visit Keiko more often," Hiei eventually answered Yusuke.

"I didn't think I needed to!" Yusuke angrily replied. "I didn't think I needed to keep going back there. I didn't think one of my best friends would make a move on her!"

"Hn, come on Yusuke, be realistic," Hiei said. "Kurama would never make a move on Keiko."

"Well, that's what I thought!"

"He knows she's yours."

"That shouldn't be what stops him! He shouldn't even be thinking about her like that in the first place!"

"I don't think you have anything to worry about. Kurama has no interest in Keiko."

"What? Why not? Are you saying Keiko isn't hot enough for him? What the hell is his problem?"

Hiei gave Yusuke a withering look, but it was wasted, as Yusuke had begun pacing back and forth at the other side of the fire.

"If I told you Kurama has become involved with another human girl, would you leave me alone?" Hiei asked, his eyes moving from side to side to keep track of Yusuke as he strode back and forth.

"Is she hot?" Yusuke asked.

"I don't know who she is," Hiei replied.

"Is she hot though?"

"I don't know. What do you want me to say?"

"Is she hotter than Keiko?"

"...Why is that relevant?"

"If she's hotter than Keiko, then that means the only reason he didn't make a move on Keiko, is because he found someone hotter."

Hiei growled, the sound intensifying as Yusuke helped himself to more of the meal Hiei had been cooking for himself over the fire.

"Yusuke, I don't care," Hiei sternly told him. "I don't care about Keiko, I don't care about Maya, and I don't care about your silly human hang-ups. Now get out of here and leave me alone!"

"Who the hell is Maya?" Yusuke asked.

"Why don't you go and ask Keiko?" Hiei sneered.

"I tried. I went to her parents' place, she wasn't there, I went to her dorm room, and she wasn't there either. I went to Kuwabara's house, and nobody was there but Kuwabara's dad. I couldn't find Keiko, Kurama or Kuwabara! The only person I did find was Botan and now you!"

"Well at least I was your last resort."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Neither did I. I'm glad that I am the last person you seek when you are having a crisis of ego."

"None of them are even answering their calls."

Yusuke produced his communication mirror as though to emphasise his point. Hiei did then acknowledge – to himself only – that it was odd that not even Kuwabara was answering a call.

"Well since you're not any help, I'm going back to find Botan," Yusuke concluded. "She was acting funny, but at least she was giving me more information than you are!"

Hiei watched, in stern silence, as Yusuke stole the remaining meat from the fire and took off without so much as a word about his theft or his intentions when he found Botan again. Hungry but relieved to no longer be a part of Yusuke's self pity, Hiei allowed himself to relax a little. But in the silence that followed, he found his mind wandering, and soon he found himself wondering about Botan's odd behaviour again.

Botan was, of course, prone to odd behaviour, but her behaviour had been uncharacteristically odd when he had visited her in the living world. It was as though she was drunk, or under the influence of some other inhibition inhibitor, as little else could explain her suddenly very sexually confident attitude. Hiei was almost certain that she was not usually that confident in her sexuality, although he had no reference point to know for sure, as he had never seen her in the presence of someone she was sexually attracted to. He had always assumed that she would be as confident – but not quite so explicit – as she had been with him: though he was confused as to why she was so suddenly being so forward with him, especially after a few years of her actually being particularly awkward about getting too physically close to him.

Hiei's face darkened as he recalled one particular incident – which had coincidentally, happened at a previous gathering of the four girls at Genkai's old temple – where he had visited the living world to check on Yukina and ended up arriving at the temple at the onset of nightfall, finding all of the girls except Yukina to be under the influence of alcohol, and then had to endure an especially awkward confrontation with Botan, made all the worse by the jeers of Keiko and Yusuke's mother (who had joined them that particular weekend). It had started with Hiei misjudging the situation and simply approaching all five women, who were standing out in the gardens when he arrived. They appeared only a little rowdy as he joined them, but the situation quickly changed when Shizuru – in what she claimed was an accident – pushed Botan into him. Being slightly inebriated, the ferry girl had not been quite so agile as she usually would be, and so, rather than bumping into Hiei and then stumbling away from him, red-faced and defensive (as she would usually have been), instead she fell fully against him, grabbing at his cloak to steady herself, dragging herself back upright, rubbing herself against him the entire way. Once she had righted herself she paused, her hands still clutched into his cloak, her eyes locked on his, her face briefly blank. The moment was one of the most awkward of Hiei's entire life, and he was almost glad when she finally screamed and shoved him away – or rather, she flattened her palms against his chest and pushed, which, with her minimal physical strength against his resulted in her pushing herself backwards and falling on her rear end.

Hiei growled as he remembered how all the other girls – Shizuru, Keiko, Atsuko and even Yukina – had laughed, and Botan had spent the next several minutes desperately trying to explain to everyone that she had never intended to touch Hiei, and that she would never touch him intentionally.

She could not have made it more obvious that she was disgusted with him if she tried: and yet she did seem to end up often touching him somehow, always with the same outcome. Hiei hated it – not that she did touch him, but that she was so insistent afterwards that she would never want to touch him. And unfortunately, Yusuke and Kurama had noticed how uncomfortable the situation made him, and had begun to make a joke of it.

And clearly, wanting to step up the joke, wanting to refresh it, to keep it amusing, they had now recruited Botan to help them torment him.

Hiei stood up and angrily stamped out the fire before making his way back up the tree to his usual sleeping place: all the while trying to ignore how hungry he was.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Botan is confronted by a demon who mistakes her for Uso and is forced to fight, which leaves her with an unexpected feeling. In the living world, Keiko is caught snooping in Maya's room by who she thinks is Botan, but shortly learns is Uso. And finally, when she looks to acquire more arrows, Botan meets a quirky street vendor named Matsurika... **Chapter 7b: Not too Clever**


	24. B Not too Clever

**Chapter 7b: Not too Clever**

Doshu had been gone a suspiciously long time. She was very fast moving and seemed to Botan to be a very clever navigator, and yet she had left to collect Botan's notebook, and never returned. It was always difficult to gauge the passage of time in Demon World: during her stay there during the Demon World Tournament, Botan had learned that not only was there sometimes little difference between day and night, but that no two days or nights were the same length, making it even harder to keep track of anything.

But, whatever time of day it was meant to be, Botan knew at least that Doshu had been gone for a few hours, and she was both worried that something bad had happened to her guide through her current, crazy situation, and slightly relieved to have some time alone to think. She had to get out of the mess she was in, but she knew that she could do very little on her own, and so Doshu had basically become not only her newest friend, but also her most important ally. The bird demon – despite being Uso's friend and "partner" – had literally saved Botan's life, several times, and was doing so much to help her. Botan felt that she ought to do something nice in return.

With that thought in mind, Botan stood up, adjusted her weapons – not that she intended to so much as look at them – and then she set out towards a cluster of colourful trees in the middle distance that she suspected were some sort of orchard. She was hoping to find some of those golden apples Doshu liked so well, as way of thanks to her friend.

After just a short amount of time spent walking, Botan began to appreciate just how far away the apparent orchard was: but as the path there was across a wide, open plain, she felt quite safe. She could see in every direction, and her surroundings were surprisingly clear. Even the sky overhead was relatively clear, and the weather was quite mild. Botan walked on with a spring in her step, deciding that the length of the walk would be good exercise.

"Uso!"

Botan tensed as the voice calling out dragged out the final syllable of the masquerader's name. Just as his voice silenced, a shadow swept over her head.

"Where are your wings today, Uso?"

Botan glanced briefly upwards, trying not to openly cringe when she spotted a hairy bat demon hovering high above her head.

"Doshu on an errand for you?" he called down to her.

"I don't know who you are, leave me alone," Botan firmly replied, increasing her pace and walking on.

Moments later, the bat demon dropped down to hover directly in front of her. She stopped abruptly to avoid walking right into him, not feeling especially concerned until she saw the way he was looking at her: she had never seen that look in a man's eyes before.

"Don't be cold, Uso!" he said. "I've got cash this time!"

Botan quietly gasped a long, slow, deep gasp of horror as the meaning of his words truly hit her.

"Get away from me!" she warned.

"Or what?" he asked, shrugging. "You can't do shit without Doshu here to protect you!"

Botan, her pride too deeply wounded to care about any truth in his words, straightened her back and stood her ground.

"I've taken down bigger demons than you, Mister!" she declared.

"You mean you've gone down on bigger demons than me," the bat demon replied with a grin.

"Oh you..." Botan growled.

She was angry, but not so much so that she had forgotten what Doshu had told her: the key to her survival in her new world was to give the appearance of being Uso, since nobody would mess with Uso. And so Botan did what seemed like the logical thing to do right then, and lifted her bow off her back, holding it in one hand and then pulling an arrow from the quiver at her shoulder with her other hand. After her earlier target practise, she only had two arrows left, but she was confident two shots would be enough to deal with her current problem.

"Uso, be real!" the bat demon said.

His eyes were on her weapon, and, Botan noted, with an odd swell of excitement rising in her chest, he looked terrified.

"I told you to leave me alone," she said in a low voice.

She lifted the bow into place and loaded the arrow, stretching out the bow and aiming the sharp arrow tip at the bat demon's face.

"Uso, what the hell?" he cried.

"Leave me alone, or I will shoot you right between your doe eyes," Botan answered him.

As he gawped back at her, Botan felt that same swell of excitement brimming inside of her, and, as though as a natural extension of the feeling, her energy began to flow into her weapon. She remembered what Doshu had told her earlier, and pointed her index fingers at her target, breathing in and breathing out. Her weapon began to crackle as more of her energy flowed into it, causing it to glow in a way that felt so incredibly physically good, she wanted more.

The bat demon cried something out and shot into the sky, and, suddenly relaxed and moving with no effort or thought, Botan followed his movements and fired her weapon. The arrow left her bow, glowing and crackling, and, although it hit him a little lower than she had been aiming, it hit him nonetheless, half the arrow embedding into him. He screamed and his wings twisted in the air, and he fell to the ground like a dead weight.

He cursed and complained and got to his feet, turning to face Botan: and by the time he had got into that position, she had reloaded, and was aiming another glowing, sparking shot right between his eyes.

The bat demon screamed and took off again, and again, on an instinct that was not her own, Botan followed his movements and made to shoot him again, only stopping at the sound of her name being called out. The sound of her own name brought her back to her senses and she lowered her weapon, the glow fading from it: but her entire body was left buzzing in a way that was euphoric. And addictive.

"Damn Botan, did you just shoot another guy in the ass?" Doshu asked as she reached Botan's side.

"I was aiming for the centre of his back: where his heart is," Botan replied.

Doshu's eyes doubled in size and, although Botan knew that her words were shocking, she felt another rush of delight upon hearing herself say them.

"Doshu?" she said.

"Yes?"

"I could get used to this."

Doshu gave Botan a critical look, but Botan ignored it: nothing could bring her down from the high she was experiencing.

"I managed to get your communication device for you," Doshu said. "But I'm sorry, Uso broke it before I could get it."

Botan crouched down and retrieved the broken mirror from Doshu's foot, turning it over to inspect the cracks in it.

"It doesn't matter," she concluded, pushing it into a pocket in the back of her shorts. "I don't need it now."

* * *

"Don't move."

Keiko was not even sure that she could move, even if she had wanted to.

"I never miss, and right now, I am aiming my shot right between your doe eyes, Keiko."

Keiko found it oddly appropriate that Botan had likened her to a deer, as she felt as helpless as a hunted deer right then: standing locked in Maya's dormitory room, Botan outside the open window, aiming a bow and arrow at her.

"What's wrong with you?" Keiko managed to make herself ask. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Come now Keiko, don't take this so personally!" Botan replied.

It was then that Keiko truly appreciated how different Botan's voice sounded: she sounded like an entirely different person altogether. The bow she was holding was worn and a little crudely constructed, but the arrow she had loaded into it looked lethal. The tip was made of metal, but the body of the arrow was wooden, and, taped to the end, was a cluster of short, rigid blue feathers. The object Keiko had found inside of a textbook in the library was clearly the broken end of one such arrow.

"I was prepared to ignore you," Botan continued. "You're hardly a threat to me, after all. But you think you're so clever. You had to go digging. But coming here, following after my girl Maya, that was not too clever a move on your part."

"What's so special about Maya?" Keiko asked. "Who is she?"

Keiko paused, a sickening thought occurring to her.

"What is she?" she asked. "And what are you? Because you are not Botan. Or at least, you're not the Botan I know."

"Maya is a girl from Kurama's past," Botan replied. "And I am Botan."

"If you are Botan, then there is something very wrong with you," Keiko said. "Because the Botan I know wouldn't attack me like this."

"There you go again Keiko, taking this so personally!" Botan replied, sounding sarcastically amused.

Keiko swallowed hard and tried to focus, tried to think of a way out. But, as her eyes locked onto Botan's face, partially obscured in shadow as she was still aiming her weapon in the room, Keiko could think of little else other than screaming internally about the insanity of her current situation.

"Who are you?" Keiko tried.

"Who I am isn't important," Botan replied. "Not yet. What I am is Botan the ferry girl."

"Are you a demon, possessing Botan?" Keiko asked. "Is the real Botan trapped inside you somewhere?"

Keiko stumbled back a step as Botan glided in through the open window. She deftly slid off her oar, which fell to the floor before it vanished, but all throughout this, Botan held her weapon up, her arrow pointed at Keiko, her pink eyes focused and intense.

"If you hadn't been so troublesome for me, I wouldn't have to do this," Botan said. "But you're getting in my way right now, and I've waited too long to let some human ruin this for me. You're looking for Maya?"

Keiko's eyes were on the sharp tip of Botan's arrow. The arrowhead itself was heart shaped, with a hole in the centre, the piercing edge bevelled like a triangular knife. It was both beautiful and horrifying: much like Botan herself right then.

"You're looking for Maya?" Botan repeated, her bow creaking as she pulled at it a little.

Keiko yelped, her eyes moving to Botan's.

"Yes, I was!" she admitted.

"Then let me help you," Botan replied, smiling in a way that was anything but friendly. "Let me take you right to her..."

Botan lowered her weapon, hanging the bow over her shoulder and stuffing the arrow into the folds of her kimono. In an act of desperation, Keiko tried to capitalise on the moment, since Botan was both unarmed and momentarily distracted. She swung her arm back and aimed a slap, driven with all her strength at Botan's face. But, with feline agility, Botan reached a hand diagonally over her body and caught Keiko's wrist long before her blow connected. She then yanked Keiko's arm with enough force to make her shoulder burn as though her arm had been dislocated. Botan pulled Keiko over her shoulder and hoisted her up, before diving, headfirst, out the window.

Keiko screamed as she was facing away from the ground, watching them fall without knowing when they would land. Their angle altered slightly and Botan somehow landed in a crouch before taking off in a sprint that made Keiko dizzy, her surroundings blurring around her. When they finally stopped, they were in a clearing in the woodland beyond the university campus grounds, and there, Botan finally threw Keiko down onto the grass.

"Got another one for you," Botan declared. "Think you can handle it?"

"Of course, Uso!"

Keiko, although still dizzy and shaken, managed to turn her head to see Maya approaching Botan. And, as she turned her head a little further, she saw something that caused her heart to leap into her throat.

"By the way, Miss Priss, my name is Uso," Botan offered.

Keiko slowly moved her head until Botan came into her line of sight again.

"U-Uso?" she asked weakly.

"Yes."

"Uso?"

Botan sighed and rolled her eyes.

"She's not as clever as she thinks she is," Maya offered.

"Keep her here," Botan replied. "At least until I get Hiei to marry me."

"Can do!" Maya chirped.

Botan summoned her oar and took off and Keiko could do little more than whimper as Maya rolled her onto her stomach and planted a knee in the small of her back to hold her down.

"You should have just minded your own business," Maya told her. "That was your friend Botan's problem too: she couldn't mind her own business either. And now look at her: she's been turned into a demon."

* * *

From the corner of her eye, Botan could see that Doshu was looking at her oddly: but she did not care. They had been standing in a queue for quite some time, but were finally next in line, and Botan had never been more excited about anything in her entire existence.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Doshu asked her as the bulky, hairy demon ahead of them finished his transaction.

Botan ignored her companion and stepped up to the little wooden shack. She was slightly surprised at how orderly the queue had been, given that they were in Demon World, but the woman standing inside the shack, one arm resting on the countertop, the other out-stretched, beckoning Botan closer, made her feel reassured somehow.

"Uso!" the woman greeted her, smiling brilliantly as Botan approached the counter. "What can I do for you today?"

"I need more arrows," Botan replied, laying her empty quiver down onto the counter.

Botan leaned forwards and the lilac haired woman on the other side of the counter copied her action, bringing their faces very close together.

"I understand you don't charge for this service," Botan whispered to her.

The woman gave a sly smile.

"Not unless you're offering to pay me," she whispered back.

"I don't have any money," Botan whispered.

"When have I ever asked you to pay me with money?"

Botan slowly searched the woman's eyes, finding the look in them vaguely lascivious and suggestive.

"Ah..." Botan said, leaning back. "I'm very flattered, but, the thing is, I actually prefer men..."

"I understand that," the woman at the counter replied as she collected Botan's quiver. "I prefer men too."

She ducked down out of sight and Botan looked down at Doshu, who merely gave her an odd look in reply. The woman at the counter popped up again, holding Botan's quiver, newly stocked with a dozen arrows.

"This is all I have, I'm afraid," she said. "You cleaned me out last week, I haven't had a chance to build up any more stock."

"That's fine, thank you so much."

"No problem."

Botan accepted her quiver and stepped away from the little wooden hut. She stopped there as something about her situation occurred to her as odd. Doshu said nothing, rather just stood silently at her side. Together they watched the woman in the hut conduct three further transactions, by which time, Botan was confident that her assumption was correct.

"She doesn't charge anyone for the things she sells," she said to Doshu.

"No, she does it as a service," Doshu replied.

Botan looked about herself. The hut was conveniently located just around the corner from the tall apartment building Uso called home.

"I'm just surprised that a demon would make or acquire such valuable goods, and then give them away for free," she said to Doshu.

"Well Matsurika doesn't give stuff to just anyone," Doshu replied. "Though she could if she wanted to. She's incredibly wealthy."

"What?"

Botan tilted her head as she studied the slender woman in the hut, dressed in a dull brown summer dress, with no accessories or jewellery. Not only was she very simple in appearance, but, unless she was incredibly gifted at suppressing her energy, she was also very weak, probably as low as an E-class demon.

"She's wealthy," Doshu repeated. "Incredibly wealthy. And she's Uso's friend. Which I suppose means she's now your friend."

"She's my friend?" Botan asked. "What is she like?"

Doshu snorted as though in amusement. Botan turned to her questioningly.

"I think, when she was serving you, she pretty much told you exactly what she's like," the bird demon replied.

"No she didn't!" Botan said. "All she did was suggest that if I wanted to pay her for the arrows, I could do so with sexual favours! Then she said she prefers men sexually, and–oh... Ah... I see..."

"She sells her services to pretty much anyone, but mostly to men," Doshu casually explained. "And she makes a lot of money from it."

"Which she then... Gives back to the community, as it were?"

"Pretty much."

"That's quite sad. She shouldn't have to sell herself like that."

"She doesn't have to sell herself like that. She loves doing it, and if her "clients" are dumb enough to pay her for it, she doesn't say no to taking their money. It's a sweet set-up: she gets paid for doing her favourite thing – and she does it a lot – and then she spends that money on things her poorer friends need. In the case of your arrows, the demon who makes them is one of her regulars, and he pays her in arrows."

Botan slowly eased her quiver off her shoulder.

"So... These are sex pennies?"

Doshu gave Botan a flat look.

"These are literally sex currency!" Botan insisted. "And don't look at me like that, Missy!"

"Do you care?" Doshu asked. "You got what you wanted – and so did she. And, actually, come to think of it, so did he..."

"I don't know how I feel about this, Doshu!"

"Why do you keep trying to moralise what you do here?"

"Because I'm..."

Botan lifted her eyes from her acquisition to Matsurika, who was still cheerfully greeting customers, and producing all sorts of items from beneath the counter of her little hut. She looked happy and healthy, and she seemed to be doing something good – but her hut had appeared to be something wholesome and genuine and altruistic before, and now, in light of what Doshu had just revealed, it seemed suddenly very seedy and shady and dirty.

"It seemed like you were enjoying yourself earlier," Doshu commented in a vaguely argumentative tone. "Isn't that why we came here? Isn't that why you wanted those?"

Botan looked down at Doshu.

"Yes, I was enjoying myself earlier," she admitted. "And yes, that is why we came here: I wanted more. I wanted to feel that way again. But the way I felt when I was... It felt as good as... And now I find out that the only reason I can get these things is because they are a form of sex currency?"

"Ah, I understand now!" Doshu brightened.

"You-you do?" Botan asked.

"Yes!" Doshu said, straightening up and looking vaguely smug, in a way that only made Botan more apprehensive about what she might say next. "You don't care that she prostitutes herself to get material things, you're just getting upset because you feel guilty about the fact that demon energy makes you horny!"

Botan's gasped and her jaw dropped open, but she said nothing. What could she say? Doshu was right, after all. Channelling her newly acquired demon energy into the arrows and successfully shooting them into her target had given her an incredible rush, and, during her long wait in the queue at Matsurika's hut, she had realised that she finally understood why Yusuke, Hiei and even Kurama enjoyed visiting and staying in Demon World so much as they did. The pure rush of using demon energy and landing a hit was the only physical feeling Botan had ever experienced that actually felt better than how she felt when she closed her eyes, imagined being physically intimate with Hiei, and touched herself to the point of orgasmic release.

"We're going for target practise," she told Doshu, trying her very best to look and sound serious.

"You do realise that successfully using the bow and arrow is a skill, and not a talent?" Doshu asked.

"What's your point?" Botan snapped irritably.

"It's a skill you need to develop, to learn," Doshu replied. "But your demon energy, that's a talent. That's natural, inherent. Wouldn't you rather learn how to control your demon energy, to master Uso's abilities? You have that ability within you, you just have to tap into it. Wouldn't that be easier than trying to learn to use a new weapon?"

Botan hooked her quiver over her shoulder again.

"I'm going for target practise," she said with finality.

"If you would use Uso's demon power, you could take a life: just like she did to you," Doshu said quietly. "You could take her life – you could take your life back from her."

Botan thought for a moment about what Doshu was saying: but her mind, rather than focus on the sensibility of her feathered friend's suggestion instead circled back to the moment when she first met Uso, and how rude and arrogant she had been. Uso's threats to shoot Botan with her bow and arrow were so vividly clear in her mind, Botan was starting to desire to confront Uso the same way the masquerader had confronted her, and threaten her in the exact same way.

"That's very sensible, Doshu," she said.

"But you're not in a sensible mood right now?" Doshu asked in a monotone that rivalled Hiei's on a bad day.

"I will do what you are saying," Botan conceded. "But first, I want to get better with the bow and arrow. I want to do to her what she did to me – especially if I ever find out she read any part of notebook to anybody at all!"

Doshu shrugged and together they set off together, walking through the dingy streets of the impoverished city slum that Uso called home.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Botan begins to master the bow and arrow, training herself to the point of exhaustion, which leads to Doshu leaving her in the care of Matsurika, who Botan quickly learns was more than just a friend to Uso. Matsurika's closeness to the masquerader means she is quick to see through Botan: but is she a friend or a foe? **Chapter 8b: Weapon of Choice**


	25. B Weapon of Choice

**Chapter 8b: Weapon of Choice**

Botan let out a prolonged, pained groan.

"I can't... Even... Lift my... Head!" she whimpered pitifully.

She was so physically weak, she was laid face down on the ground – where she had slept through the night before – with Doshu standing in front of her, looking down at her with a look that was a mixture of contempt and pity.

"I warned you."

It was mostly a look of contempt.

"I know..." Botan muttered into the ground. "But I... I didn't think..."

"No, you didn't," Doshu casually cut in.

"I didn't think it would be this bad!" Botan wailed.

"Well, since you're finally awake, how about I take you back to the apartment?"

"Oh, no, I hate it there! It's dark and smelly!"

"Ugh, come on, you'll feel better after some more rest. But, you know, before you go on your next little round of target practise – because I can already tell you will, that I won't be able to talk your stubborn ass out of it – remember this feeling, and remember that exerting all of your energy like that will do this to you."

"I felt so empowered. All my arrows were striking their targets."

"You were starting to use your life energy."

"I felt so empowered."

"You were groaning and screaming and over-exerting yourself."

"...It's what I imagine sex must feel like..."

Botan pressed her face into the cold, damp ground, hoping that she had spoken her last remark quietly enough that Doshu had not actually heard her.

"You've... Never had sex?" Doshu asked.

Botan, her nose still pushed against the ground, shook her head.

"What about..."

"What about what?"

"Um... Right, Hiei wasn't a real thing. You just wanted him and never told him about it."

"You make it sound so pathetic."

"No, no! I mean, I'm sure it's not like you were writing down all your fantasies about him for several years, seeing him all the time and never even trying to make it real."

Botan finally managed to lifted her head, her masque muddy and askew, her pale face framed by her hair, which was bigger and wilder than ever.

"That's exactly how it was," she said.

Doshu looked suddenly guilty and awkward.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad..." she tried.

"Yes," Botan said, stabilising herself by propping herself up on her elbows. "Yes it was that bad."

"I... I don't really understand why you wouldn't just... Tell him that you wanted him, since you did want him that badly...?" Doshu replied, her tone starting to sound as awkward as her eyes looked as they darted about and only fleetingly looked directly at Botan.

"He didn't notice me," Botan admitted miserably. "He didn't even know that I existed! And he always said that he loved Demon World, and he was repulsed by anyone or anything from anywhere else. And... Sometimes... I would try to just... Fall, and see if he would catch me, in a romantic, gentlemanly sort of way, and then gaze into my eyes, and just... Fall in love with me..."

"Ugh..."

Botan pouted and thinned her eyes at Doshu.

"Sorry," the bird demon conceded. "But surely you didn't really think all you had to do was literally fall, and he would catch you and... Fall... In... Love... Oh..."

Botan shuffled about and managed to haul herself into a kneeling position, sitting back heavily on her heels and sighing as she lifted heavy arms to right her masque over her face.

"I just want to go home," she said miserably. "I just want to go back to my bedroom in Spirit World, back to my notebook."

"Back to writing out your sexual fantasies about a demon who doesn't even notice you, and then masturbating over them?" Doshu asked.

Botan gasped.

"Am I wrong?" Doshu asked, frowning at Botan critically.

"Well... No, but you shouldn't just come out and say it like that!" Botan protested. "That is incredibly rude, Missy!"

"Alright..." Doshu said with a sigh. "How about this: I am struggling to comprehend why, when you are enjoying yourself so much here, like you did last night, you still want to go back to a life where you cart around human souls and live ninety percent of your life – experience ninety percent of your joy – inside your head."

Botan paused, her shoulders slouching, as the reality of Doshu's words truly sank in.

"What?" Doshu asked, frowning at her again. "Aren't any of your human friends this honest with you?"

Botan shook her head.

"Well maybe they should be," Doshu replied. "If I had always been your partner, I never would have let this behaviour continue. If I had been your partner when you met Hiei, you would never have had the time to write out any fantasies about him, because you would be living them. I would have made that happen for you."

"But how?" Botan asked weakly. "He doesn't even like me, I don't think."

A very strange look passed over Doshu's fuchsia eyes, and, briefly, she looked incredibly sad. Botan found it odd, but between her exhaustion and her mounting sadness at the thought that Hiei did not think of her the same way she thought of him – and the idea that she might not ever even see Hiei again – she could not really concentrate on trying to guess why Doshu appeared to be struggling with their conversation.

"Come on, let me take you back," Doshu offered, her voice soft, warm, and reassuringly friendly in Botan's moment of emotional weakness.

"Doshu, you are my partner," she said as Doshu moved around the back of her. "And you're my friend. My wonderful, helpful, honest friend."

There was a long silent pause before Botan finally heard Doshu open her wings, followed shortly by the feeling of her taloned feet gripping into the straps Botan still wore. The ferry girl made no attempt to support herself, instead taking fullest advantage of her new mode of flight and slouching completely, allowing Doshu to carry her weight entirely. Had she been on her oar, she would have had to concentrate, to expend energy to control it and hold herself upright, and, for the first time since losing her oar, Botan found herself no longer caring for it.

Briefly, between this realisation and her memory of just how physically satisfying the use of demon energy was, Botan began to wonder if she actually preferred being a demon to being a ferry girl.

* * *

Doshu was actually glad when Matsurika appeared. During the journey back to Uso's apartment, Botan had fallen into a very deep sleep, leaving Doshu carrying her entire weight. It was not a problem during flight, but, as she tried to manoeuvre into any of the windows, forced to flap her wings in short, wide beats, her wingspan was too great to fit through the gaps, and whenever she raised or lowered her wings high or low enough that she would fit through, she lost altitude, and could no longer fit herself and Botan through the height of the window.

"Are you okay up there?" Matsurika called up to her.

Doshu gladly lowered herself and Botan down until Botan's feet were just above the ground.

"I can't fit through the window with her, and she won't wake up," Doshu explained. "She overdid her training last night."

Matsurika looked at Botan's face, tilting her head to one side sympathetically. Doshu did not especially care for Matsurika – she found her irritatingly smug – but she had always tolerated her in the past because Uso was so fond of her.

"Let me take her," Matsurika offered. "Her apartment was ransacked, right? She doesn't even have a decent bed to sleep in. She can sleep it off at my place."

Doshu was hesitant to accept that offer, for a variety of reasons.

"I'll take good care of her, don't worry," Matsurika added.

Doshu held back a sarcastic retort, and instead acquiesced to the offer presented to her.

"Okay, but just let her sleep, okay?"

Matsurika stepped forwards and hooked her arms under Botan's. Doshu slowly released the ferry girl, all the while keeping her eyes fixed on Matsurika.

"Just let her sleep," she repeated.

"I'll take good care of her," Matsurika said again.

"I'd rather you just let her sleep," Doshu replied.

Matsurika sighed.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and go fetch some food or something?" she said dismissively.

Doshu shot her a dark look before turning and taking her leave. She was still not completely sure that she could trust Matsurika not to get Botan into some sort of compromising position, but she needed to use the window of opportunity afforded to her to meet up with Uso again.

Unsure where to find her mistress, Uso once more returned to the old temple in the living world, circling it several times before concluding that Uso could not possibly be there. She then landed on the roof and took a moment to feel out any significant energies nearby. Of course, she could no longer track Uso by her energy signal, since that signal now belonged to Botan – and Doshu had no idea what Botan's energy might feel like to use that to look for Uso – and so she instead just relaxed, just breathed and focused on searching out anything unusual.

Before too long, Doshu located a very high level of spirit energy – it felt human in composition, but demon in terms of raw power. Whatever (or whoever) it was, it was a lead she felt compelled to follow, and so she quickly flew across the landscape, through rolling countryside, and ultimately over a human city, eventually finding herself hovering over a house, in a street of similar houses. She tried to land on the streetlight outside the house – something she had seen other birds doing throughout the human city – but she quickly realised that she was significantly larger than the birds of the human realm, and could only fit one of her feet on her intended perch, and so she instead flew into a large tree in the front garden of the house she sought.

Doshu hid herself in the foliage and waited, soon finding the source of the energy signal she had sensed: a tall male human, with curly orange hair and a strong build. He exited the house and paced up and down the garden path before looking at something in the sky. Doshu followed his line of sight, spotting Uso, looking entirely unlike herself: apparently Uso had assimilated (visually at least) to her new life as efficiently as Botan had. Her hair, usually thick and wild, had been flattened and tamed up into a high ponytail, her face was devoid of make-up and she was dressed in a very plain, powder pink kimono, riding through the air on an oar.

Uso lowered herself down to the street to greet the human watching her. She slid from the oar and it fell to the ground, bouncing with a light clatter before settling and then finally disappearing.

"Botan, where have you been?" the human yelled at her.

"Silly, I went to Spirit World, to plead your sister's release, remember?" Uso replied, her voice sounding flawlessly like Botan's. "You were the one who disappeared! I went to look for you, to tell you Spirit World would not release Shizuru, but you had already left!"

"Yukina's gone, Botan! Where is she?"

"Yukina?"

"Yes!"

"I left her visiting Shizuru."

"Yeah, well now she's gone! Koenma said she'd gone home, but she isn't anywhere around here, and I can't find her! I can't even feel her! And I can't reach anyone else – the only person who's answering my calls is Hiei!"

"Oh, well, Hiei is, of course, always there when we need him. That's one os his qualities I like best of all."

There was a short pause in the conversation, during which Doshu noticed Uso glancing very quickly in her direction.

"Alright then, let me go back to Spirit World and ask around there," Uso offered. "I will try to find out if there was a mistake made, if Yukina is actually still there."

"Well hurry up about it!"

Uso sighed and summoned the oar again, leaping onto it and flying up past the tree Doshu was hiding in. She glared in at Doshu as she passed and Doshu duly took the hint, waiting until her mistress was almost out of sight before racing out of the tree after her. Doshu was one of the fastest flyers in all of Demon World, and so she caught up to Uso quite quickly, and when she did so, Uso indicated for them both to land on the rooftop of a tall building.

"What are you doing here again, bird?" Uso demanded as she leapt from the oar, which again fell down behind her.

"I need to just tell you that Botan told me Hiei has no feelings for her," Doshu explained, landing on the roof. "I remember you said you thought you could still have a relationship with him, but Botan told me he doesn't much like anyone from the human or spirit worlds."

"Well he definitely likes it when I get physical with him," Uso spat.

"Botan's a virgin."

"Ugh, really?"

Doshu nodded.

"Shit, so now I have to act like a virgin when I have sex with him..."

"...It's not the first time you've done exactly that..."

"Yes, but all the other times I lost my virginity, it was to some dumbass with more money than sense: this Hiei seems quite intelligent. I'll have to be very convincing."

"Well maybe... Or maybe you should just let it go."

Uso narrowed her eyes, glaring down at Doshu in a way the bird demon knew was never good.

"I mean, if he has no interest in a ferry girl, wouldn't you be better off doing something else instead?" Doshu tried. "Like, I don't know, try seducing one of the others."

"Bird, Hiei is Mukuro's second in command, he is an S-Class demon, he can freely move between all three worlds, and he is very low maintenance," Uso replied. "After centuries of searching, after countless failed attempts, I have finally found a life worth taking: you, as my partner, should be supportive of that, and that is not the vibe I am getting from you right now. What is wrong with you?"

"N-nothing," Doshu lied. "I just thought that maybe it was hopeless for you to push things with Hiei like you are."

Uso reached into the folds of her kimono and produced a ragged, well-handled book – Botan's beloved notebook – and began flicking through the pages with a condescending look on her face. Doshu felt oddly sickened inside as she watched Uso so callously handling Botan's most prized treasure, and she found herself also thinking she ought really not to have left Botan in Matsurika's care.

"Here we are," Uso said, stopping at the page she had apparently sought. ""I'm in love with Hiei. There is no point in denying it any longer. I never had something I wanted to do or be before I met him: I was happy to just carry on, ferrying souls and assisting the Spirit Detective. But that has all changed. Now I want Hiei. I want to be his wife. I have never felt so strongly about anything before. Sometimes I think the love I have for him is stronger, a more powerful force, than the love that Kuwabara has for Yukina, or Keiko has for Yusuke.""

Uso slammed the book shut with a smug smirk: though her expression morphed into something else entirely as she stared down at Doshu. She stowed the book back in her kimono and crouched down low, bringing herself on eye-level with her partner.

"Do you feel sorry for that pathetic ferry girl, Doshu?"

Uso so rarely called her by her name, Doshu immediately began to panic. She slid back one foot in an attempt to put some distance between them, but Uso grabbed her face in one hand, squeezing her entire head in a painfully tight grip.

"Do you?" she asked through tightly clenched teeth.

"No!" Doshu replied. "Of course not! I'm on your side! I just..."

"You just let yourself become attached to that idiot ferry girl," Uso said, her voice suddenly sounding almost gentle. "And now you want me to back off of Hiei, because you want to spare Botan the heartache of watching her one true love marry someone else. That's it, isn't it?"

Doshu was speechless.

"You are so simplistic, even someone without my experience of reading others could have seen through you," Uso said in a low voice. "And you ought to remember that you are nothing without me. You will return to Demon World, and you will do as I tell you, which is to keep that ferry girl there, keep her alive, and keep her out of my way. Do you understand?"

Doshu still could not speak: partly because she was frozen by the realisation that what Uso had accused her of was possibly true. Botan kept calling her a friend, Botan let her eat the golden apple, Botan never hurt her – even when she was angry – and Botan treated her as an equal, something no-one ever had before.

"Do you understand?" Uso shouted into her face.

"I understand," Doshu replied.

She did understand, but she was not so sure that she could continue to follow Uso's instructions. As Uso's partner, she was obliged to do as her mistress asked, and she had never had a problem following orders before. But, before, she had never had a friend.

"Get out of here," Uso said, finally releasing her and standing upright. "And stop bothering me."

Doshu nodded and took to the air, quickly flying back the way she had come, and back to Demon World.

* * *

Botan awoke with a groan, finding herself once more facedown. This time, however, instead of opening her eyes to cold wet mud, she found herself lying facedown in a luxuriously soft bed, her face – free of her masque – buried in a pillow that her arms were hugged around.

"You're awake."

Botan nodded. She felt as though she had overslept, and still felt groggy. In that moment, as she slowly came around, she found herself thinking that the last few days had just been a horrible nightmare. She had made it to the sleepover at Genkai's temple after all, and Yukina had just entered the room to serve her breakfast.

"You've been overdoing it again, honey."

"I know."

"Would you like me to give you a massage?"

"Yes please."

Botan sighed into the pillow as she felt the covers being lifted from her body. She felt Yukina's small hands on her shoulders, squeezing into her in a most delightful way. Botan closed her eyes and sank further into the pillow, relaxing into the delightful feeling of Yukina's hands pressing down the length of her back.

Botan's eyes opened again when Yukina hooked her thumbs under the hem of her vest and pushed it up, right up over her shoulders, exposing her entire back.

"Um, what are you...?" she mumbled into the pillow.

"Shh, just relax, honey."

Yukina had never called Botan "honey" before.

Yukina had also never so deftly unhooked her bra before.

"What are you doing?" Botan asked, lifting her head slightly from the pillow.

"Giving you a massage."

As Botan felt a weight on the bed at her side, she realised that the voice talking to her, whilst sweet and light, was not Yukina's.

"You're so tense!"

Botan turned her head and peered back over her shoulder as Matsurika hooked a leg over her and then sat down on her hips. In the horrifying moment that she leaned forwards and began pressing her hands into Botan's bare back, Botan remembered that no part of what was happening now or what had been happening in the last few days was in any way imagined: it was all horribly real.

"Where am I?" Botan asked.

"Doshu brought you to me," Matsurika replied. "So that I could take care of you."

Matsurika was not only stroking her hands in a very odd manner over Botan's skin, but she was starting to grind her crotch against Botan's backside. Just as it got to the point that it began to feel weirdly uncomfortable, Matsurika lowered herself forwards, almost lying down on Botan's back, her lilac hair falling over Botan's face as she brought her lips ticklishly close to her ear.

"You know, you never paid me for our little transaction last night."

Botan's eyes opened wide, and any hint of exhaustion left her.

"I can't do this!" she wailed. "Please get off of me!"

Matsurika slowly lifted the top half of her body up, her hips finally stilling, and no longer grinding against Botan. She paused there for a moment before her left hand pulled at something by Botan's left thigh, and, in the same moment that she realised what the feeling actually was, Botan found herself being flipped over onto her back. Matsurika pinned her down, one hand bunched into her hair, the other holding the vicious, serrated knife to her throat.

"Who the hell are you and where is Uso?" she growled into Botan's face.

In a moment if sickening irony, Botan wondered if any of her friends had done exactly the same thing to Uso, demanding where she really was.

"I asked you a question!" Matsurika yelled when Botan did not answer her, pulling harder at Botan's hair.

"My name is Botan, and I don't want to be here!" Botan wailed.

"Botan?" Matsurika asked, her eyes narrowing curiously. "What sort of name is "Botan"?"

"Well, what sort of name is "Uso"?" Botan muttered.

"Don't push your luck. What are you doing here?"

"I don't know! I didn't ask to be here! I just... Ended up here! I don't know what else to do!"

"Wait..."

Matsurika opened her fingers and the painful tension in Botan's hair eased.

"Uso took your life?" she whispered.

"Yes, she did," Botan replied. "But please believe me when I say that I am not trying to take hers! Her life is terrible! I don't want it! She can have it back!"

Matsurika sat up again, her hand brandishing the knife relaxing at her side.

"I've never met one of Uso's victims before," she said quietly.

"Well don't take this the wrong way, but I wish we'd never met," Botan replied. "I would never have chosen to come here."

"Why is Doshu helping you?" Matsurika asked, casually indicating Botan's nose with the knife.

"Could you please not point that thing at me?" Botan asked in a small voice.

Matsurika looked at the knife in her hand before sighing and slipping it back into its sheath at Botan's thigh.

"A-and could you maybe get off of me, and let me cover myself up?"

Matsurika looked down at Botan's breasts, barely covered by her loosened bra for what seemed to Botan to be an uncomfortably long moment before finally climbing off of her and off the bed entirely. Botan dived under the covers and quickly secured all her clothing back in place before reemerging, where she found Matsurika standing by the window – a real window, with actual glass panes, Botan noticed – holding Uso's masque in both her hands.

"Why are you dressing like Uso, and pretending to be her?" she asked as their eyes met.

"I'm not really," Botan replied, from her position knelt in the centre of the opulent bed. "I'm just trying to survive."

Matsurika nodded and handed her back the masque.

"Uso was my friend," she said.

"Yes, Doshu told me that," Botan replied, accepting back the masque.

"Sometimes she was a lot more than my friend."

Botan swallowed hard.

"Y-yes, I gathered that too..." she awkwardly replied.

"She had been spending more and more time away from home lately, I did wonder why," Matsurika continued. "I thought she would have told me she was leaving."

"She probably couldn't tell anyone, in case it ruined her... Masquerade," Botan offered.

Matsurika nodded.

"So what about you?" she asked. "What were you before all this?"

Botan looked down at the masque in her hands.

"Well, I was a ferry girl," she said. "But I'm starting to think that doesn't mean anything now."

Matsurika smiled a wry, humourless smile.

"I can understand," she said. "I used to be something else too. But where I am now, what I used to be is meaningless."

Botan frowned.

"Were you the victim of a masquerader too?" she asked.

"No," Matsurika replied. "Just someone who wanted a different life to the one my people chose for me... Not that I expect you, or anyone, to understand that."

"No, I understand that perfectly," Botan said. "I'm supposed to just collect souls, and run errands for Spirit World, but then I... I met some people who made me feel like I might want more. I met one particular person who made me want a lot more."

"A man?"

"Yes."

Matsurika moved over and sat on the bed beside Botan.

"Maybe you and I have something in common after all," she concluded.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** After arguably abusing Matsurika's hospitality, Botan wanders outside to find... Yusuke and Kuwabara. She fails to catch their attention, and after failing to understand Matsurika's apparent instant attraction to Kuwabara, Botan starts to formulate a plan to get her life back. **Chapter 9b: My Love**


	26. B My Love

**Chapter 9b: My Love**

Botan wanted to ask Matsurika what she meant, as she was being incredibly cryptic, but at the same time, she was a little afraid to pressurise her for any information, lest she attack her again. She still had that dreamy look on her face, a look that was in direct contrast to the violent one she had worn when she had threatened to slit Botan's throat.

"This is a lovely home you have," Botan instead said, when her need to break the awkward silence overtook her fear.

"I have many lovely things," Matsurika casually replied. "My friend Uso was one of them. I'll miss her."

"W-well, if it makes you feel any better, I would like to go back to my old life," Botan offered. "And then Uso could come back here."

Matsurika turned to face Botan directly.

"After how hard she's worked to take your life, she won't just hand it back," she warned.

"I thought that might be the case–"

"Not without a fight. Do you really think you could take Uso in a fight?"

"Doshu told me the exchange will end if one of us dies."

"You couldn't possibly kill Uso."

"No, but I could kill myself."

Matsurika visibly started at Botan's response.

"Are you insane?" she asked. "You would do that? Why?"

"Because I would rather die than have Uso read any part of my notebook to anybody – especially Hiei!"

"You would die to save yourself humiliation? If you die, maybe this Hiei will just read your notebook anyway–what is your notebook?"

"It's my very personal notebook that Uso stole from me! And… What if… What if Hiei likes her? What if he likes her in the way I always wanted him to like me?"

"What if he does?"

"Then I'd kill myself to stop her getting her claws into him!"

"If you really love this guy, and he really loves Uso, wouldn't it be really selfish of you to stop them from being together?"

Botan faltered, the idea then truly sinking in that maybe Hiei might like Uso, and maybe she would have to remain in Demon World for all eternity, watching him fall in love with her.

"Well, you'll have to excuse me, I have customers," Matsurika said, stepping away from the window. "When you're ready, see yourself out. If you're hungry, there's food in the kitchen, help yourself."

"Really?" Botan asked.

"Yes," Matsurika replied.

Botan, famished beyond reason, ended up in the kitchen before Matsurika had even got that far herself. Matsurika called out a goodbye to her, but Botan merely nodded back at her, her hands and mouth already stuffed with food. As soon as she was alone and had eaten enough to satisfy her immediate hunger, she began to think more logically, seeking out a good-sized flask and filling it with water, then she grabbed an old resin bag and filled it with as many fruits and dried meats as she could reasonably fit into it, making sure that she took every one of the golden apples Doshu was so fond of.

Botan then set out to find her feathered friend, share her bounty, and plan for a way back to her own life. She left Matsurika's unusually prestige building and headed out into the dank streets beyond, making her way around a corner and finding herself on the road Matsurika's hut was located.

And there, Botan stopped short, dropping her bag and her flask, frozen in disbelief at what she saw ahead of her.

"Let's just get outta here!"

The sound of Yusuke's voice was like music to Botan's ears, after so long of neither seeing nor hearing her friends, she almost felt that she was hallucinating as she watched Yusuke pushing Kuwabara away from Matsurika, who was standing by her hut. The duo started to move away, into a crowd that had gathered outside Matsurika's hut – no doubt in anticipation of her opening, to purchase their wares from her – and Botan clumsily ran after them, bumping into bodies and tripping over feet to the point that she almost fell over completely several times.

"Yusuke!" she cried, trying to raise her voice over the humdrum of the chattering crowd of bodies between them.

Ahead of her, through the crowd, Yusuke stopped walking, and put out a hand to stop Kuwabara at his side. Botan smiled and stopped where she stood, not even caring when someone shouldered into her, causing her to stagger back a step. Finally her friends had arrived and finally she could go home: the nightmare was over at last.

After a moment of overwhelming relief, Botan started forwards again: but as she did so, so did Yusuke and Kuwabara. They were moving slowly though, and, by pushing her way through the crowd, she was confident that she could catch up to them. As she finally cleared the crowd and reached a clear part of the street, Botan called out to Yusuke again, and again he stopped, looking back over his shoulder. Botan stopped and broke into a smile, tears momentarily blurring her eyes as her emotions literally welled up: she had never felt so relieved or so pleased to see a friendly face in her entire existence.

Yusuke turned fully around and looked about himself. Twice he looked directly at her, but neither time did his eyes linger on her. Kuwabara looked about the streets, but he too looked over Botan as though she was just another anonymous demon in the crowd.

And that was when she realised that was all she was: just another anonymous demon in a crowd.

Even Yusuke and Kuwabara could not see who she really was.

Botan watched them turn away and run off at top speed, and she fell to her knees, her legs no longer able to support her. If even her own friends no longer recognised her, then everything Doshu had warned her about really was true: going to her friends or to Spirit World for help would be pointless. Uso had, after all, turned her into a demon, and that was all they now saw her as. Botan remained there, on her knees, tears slipping from her eyes, but being absorbed into her masque – which made her wonder if that was another purpose it served, to hide tears – watching the dust cloud ahead of her slowly dissipate.

"Hey, what are you doing? Are you okay? Botan?"

Doshu was hopping about around her, but Botan could not even muster the strength to answer her.

"Are you feeling better? Did you get up too soon? Do you still feel weak?"

Botan found herself raising one arm to point in the direction she was looking. Doshu hopped to a halt and turned her head, craning her neck forwards and searching the area with keen eyes.

"What is it?" she asked. "I don't see anything unusual. Unless..."

Doshu turned and ran her eyes over Botan.

"Did someone mug you?" she asked. "Not that you actually anything of value on you. I mean, neither of us do, after they already cleared out the apartment..."

"This is it now, isn't it?" Botan asked, her voice low and deep, sounding strange to even her own ears. "This is how it will always be. I can't go back. This is my life now. This is what I am now."

Doshu looked up at her with wide eyes and an almost infant-like look of wonder.

"Be honest with me, Doshu," Botan said, turning to look down at her. "This is it, isn't it? This is the real extent of Uso's powers. This is what she's really done to me. Now it's just you, and me and the rotten old apartment... Oh, and my best friend is a wealthy sex addict and black market merchant!"

"Well..." Doshu began. "That's... That's my life you're describing there too, you know..."

Botan looked down at Doshu, almost wanting to grab her up into a hug so tight it became suffocating for them both.

"Doshu, you are the only beacon of light in this dark, dark place," she said sadly.

"Hey angel, you forgot all the stuff you stole from me."

Botan looked back over her shoulder, finding Matsurika walking towards her, the bag and flask Botan had taken in one hand, and one of the golden apples in her other hand. She took a bite out of the apple as she joined Botan and held out the bag and flask towards her.

"If you're that hungry, why don't you just go to the restaurant around the corner there?" Matsurika asked through a mouthful of apple.

"I don't have any money!" Botan wailed.

"So go to work and earn some," Matsurika flatly replied. "Uso worked."

"As a stripper, yes!" Botan indignantly replied.

"She made good money," Matsurika said with a shrug. "Don't knock it 'til you try it."

Botan accepted the bag and flask and then accepted Matsurika's hand when she offered it, allowing her to help her to her feet.

"Matsurika?" Botan began.

"Hm?" Matsurika responded, munching her way through her apple.

"Those two you were just talking to – Yusuke and Kuwabara – did they–"

"Hm, hey!"

Matsurika hurriedly swallowed the contents of her mouth, something that looked quite painful, a visible lump passing down her throat in her frantic attempt to clear her mouth.

"You know those two?" she asked.

"Yes, they are friends..." Botan began, before wilting a little. "They were friends of mine. Although now I suppose they are friends of Uso's..."

"One of them was just an idiot really, but the other guy was really cute, right?" Matsurika said.

Botan balked.

"Well, I suppose Yusuke does have a sort of dry-witted charm about him–"

"Not Yusuke!" Matsurika cut her off. "The other one. Kuwabara. He was my kinda guy!"

Botan's eyebrows shot up.

"R-really?" she asked. "I mean, not that he's not just lovely, it's just that usually girls don't necessarily–Kuwabara, really?"

Matsurika nodded and flung the core of her apple into the air and although Botan saw, from the corner of her eye, that Doshu shamelessly caught the chewed up, seeded remains of the apple and gladly ate every piece of it, her attention remained fixed on Matsurika.

"You don't think he's handsome?" she asked, throwing Botan a critical look as though she was the one saying something unusual.

"I don't think he's ugly, but he's not necessarily every girl's cup of tea," Botan replied.

"Well those girls are crazy, he's gorgeous!" Matsurika frankly replied.

"Well, I am sure he would be very pleased to know–you did see Yusuke, the other one who was with Kuwabara, right?"

"The one with the shoe polish hair and bushy eyebrows?"

"Well, I suppose you could describe him that way, yes..."

"I saw him. I heard him too. Not my type."

Botan opened her mouth and held up a finger, but soon found her finger wilting and her mouth closing.

"Well, this has been a very..." she began slowly. "Enlightening discussion, and a very... Strange and yet rather welcome distraction from... You really think Kuwabara is the better looking one?"

"You're crazy," Matsurika scoffed. "And if you really think he isn't, then that just proves that you don't belong here!"

Matsurika turned and started to leave and Botan straightened her back pouting and glowering at her back as she left.

"Well excuse me, but I never said that I did belong here!" she shouted after her.

"Good luck with whatever you're off to do," Matsurika called back, keeping her head forward, but raising one hand by her head in a half-hearted wave.

Botan turned to Doshu.

"Can you believe that?" she asked her.

Doshu tilted her head.

"Who do you think is better looking Doshu?" Botan pressed. "Kuwabara or Yusuke?"

"I'm a bird, Botan," Doshu reminded her.

"Yes, but you have eyes, don't you?"

Doshu gave Botan one of her flat looks – a look Botan saw on her face more often than she cared for – and said nothing.

"Oh well, never mind," Botan said with a sigh. "They didn't know who I was, Doshu. They were here – Yusuke and Kuwabara – and neither of them recognised me. Is it really that bad? It's just a change in energy, right? I mean, I'm still me! What I am might be a little bit different, but who I am is still me, right?"

"Absolutely," Doshu agreed. "This place, what's happened to you, none of it is changing who you are: not in the slightest."

Botan nodded and reached into her back pocket, retrieving the broken communication mirror Doshu had recovered for her.

"Do you suppose Matsurika might know someone who could fix this?" she asked.

Doshu gave Botan another flat look.

"Oh, what are you giving me that look for now?" Botan snapped.

"Someone in Demon World capable of fixing a Spirit World device is a real rarity," Doshu replied. "And the price for their services will be high."

"And I have no money," Botan said forlornly.

"Cash isn't exactly the currency you would be expected to pay in, but I sort of suspect you wouldn't want to pay this particular fee..."

Botan's eyes widened and Doshu nodded. Then, Botan again saw an odd look on Doshu's face, one she had noticed a few times, fleetingly.

"So Matsurika figured out that you're not Uso?" she asked.

Botan nodded. Doshu leaned to one side, peering past Botan at Matsurika, who had returned to her hut.

"I suppose that's okay," she mused. "But you don't want to let too many others find out you're not really Uso. It will only attract trouble for you."

Botan kept her head down, her eyes still on her broken communication mirror. Having one of her material possessions back in her hand felt strange. It made her realise that a part of her had purposefully forgotten about her life up until the point she landed in Demon World as a demon herself. She had heard Genkai talk about a similar thing once before, after they had witnessed Keiko pretending not to care when Yusuke left for Demon World. Genkai had told Botan that denial was a natural defence mechanism to avoid emotional pain.

"It's changed already," she said, speaking more to herself than Doshu. "Everything has changed already. Even if do manage to get back, everything will be different. She will have shown them all a different side of me – their memories of me have been tainted by her. Even if they know she was a faker, it doesn't matter if she's been reading them personal entries from my notebook."

Botan closed her fist around the communicator, thinking that she simply wished to enclose it within her fingers and then return it to her pocket: but somehow she ended up crushing it, shattered pieces jumping out from the spaces between her fingers. Doshu's eyes doubled in size as she looked on at the damage and Botan sighed forlornly.

"I still don't really understand demon energy," she explained. "It's not the same as spirit energy."

Botan put the broken remains of the communicator into the bag Matsurika had brought her – since she reasoned that leaving even a broken item from Spirit World lying around in Demon World was a bad idea – and then held her hands out in front of herself, flexing her fingers and watching as demon energy glowed and crackled around them.

"It's easier to access," she continued. "It's more… Natural. I have to concentrate to use spirit energy, but demon energy just appears, with very little effort."

"Using it up tires you out just the same," Doshu warned. "Remember what happened last night when you shot off all those arrows?"

"Yes…" Botan said, focusing a small effort into her hands and watching the glow intensify. "Because I was using the same amount of effort I would have used if I had been relying on my spirit energy to power those arrows – but demon energy doesn't require so much effort. You know, in a way, this makes me more powerful than Uso."

"I wouldn't say that…" Doshu muttered.

"I would. I can tap into her energy reserves in a way she probably never bothered to. I'm more accustomed to having to work hard to make an attack count: if I can train a little and better understand the limits of my powers, I could be stronger than her."

"Botan, you already are stronger than her. She has your energy now, remember?"

Botan found herself squinting against the glow of energy from her hands. Her training the night before had worn her out, but, after some rest, she was almost too eager to go out and do it all over again. This was obviously why Hiei, Yusuke and Kurama trained as hard as they did: it was an incredible high. And Botan, even without her notebook to help her keep track of the minutiae of her current situation, was sharp enough that she remembered Doshu telling her that Uso relied on her charm and skills of deception as much as her raw physical strength to get by. That meant that Uso was not necessarily a versed physical fighter, rather more of an emotional or psychological one. Botan's spirit energy was weaker than the demon energy she had inherited from Uso, and, as Uso had probably not trained, she might not fully appreciate how much effort she would need to use Botan's spirit energy: whereas Botan could access every part of Uso's demon energy.

"I could take her in a fight," she concluded aloud. "I don't have to die, I can fight her."

"Why would you do that?" Doshu asked.

"Because she stole my notebook, she stole my energy, she stole my friends and she stole my Hiei!"

"Well, okay, but your friends will see you as a demon, and if you attack Uso, they will defend her as if she were you."

"That's not true, when they see us together, they will see that she is an impostor! It doesn't matter how good she is at pretending, she won't ever be me! She can steal my energy and my notebook, but she can't steal my me!"

Doshu gave Botan another of her withering looks.

"Oh, what is it this time, Miss Doom?" Botan snapped at her.

"Botan, your friends were just here, right?" Doshu asked slowly. "And they just… Walked right by you, right?"

Botan's spirits immediately fell, right back down to the same low she had hit when Yusuke and Kuwabara had looked right though her.

"You're not you any more," Doshu added.

"Yes I am, Doshu," Botan insisted. "It doesn't matter what has happened, I am still me, and I'm not letting that nasty piece of work take what's mine!"

Botan stomped back along the street and joined the queue outside Matsurika's hut.

"Why are we back here?" Doshu asked.

"More ammunition," Botan sulkily replied.

"Right…" Doshu muttered.

"Because this way, if my friends really don't recognise me, I can just shoot her face off, and then, when she dies, I get my life back!" Botan harshly added.

"Yes, that would work," Doshu agreed. "But Matsurika won't support you doing that. Shouldn't you also maybe ask Matsurika why she was talking to your friends?"

Botan paused.

"That thought never occurred to you?" Doshu asked.

"Of course it did," Botan lied. "That's why we're in the queue: why was Matsurika talking to Yusuke and Kuwabara, and more arrows."

Doshu sighed and hopped off as though she intended to go do something else, but Botan soon managed to lure her back by producing one of the golden apples she had taken from Matsurika's kitchen: which she was glad of, as the queue ahead of her was moving very slowly, and she needed at least one friendly face close by as she waited.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Botan learns (from Matsurika) that Yusuke and Kuwabara are going to the ice village to find Yukina, and although this seems odd, she continues with her plan of approaching the SDF, in their border expansion efforts, in an attempt to negotiate her way back into Spirit World. When the SDF are less than welcoming, Doshu performs a noble act that surprises herself and Botan. **Chapter 10b: Bad Girl Gone Good**

 **A/N:** So chapter 10 is the first of a few of the a/b chapters where the title isn't the same from A to B story (these tend to be important in that they represent areas where the A and B story are more separate). We're now sort of halfway through B story already...


	27. Bad Girl Gone Good

**Chapter 10b: Bad Girl Gone Good**

Botan had been holding the same bite of apple in her mouth for so long, juices had started to dribble out of the corners of her mouth. At her side, Doshu was still managing to eat, but her highly expressive eyes portrayed exactly how Botan was sure she was going to feel once she had snapped out of being frozen in sheer horror.

"Alright honey, I'll see you next week! Next!"

Someone elbowed Botan in the back and she stumbled forwards, her booted feet thumping into the front wall of Matsurika's hut. She turned her head to watch the troll walking away for a moment before slowly turning back to the woman smiling to sweetly at her from behind the counter, as though she had not just been doing something entirely vulgar with one of the slimiest and most bizarre looking creatures Botan had ever seen.

"What's up?" Matsurika asked.

Botan slowly began chewing the contents of her mouth, wiping the underside of her wrist over her lips to clear away the juice she had dribbled out.

"I didn't know you worked in public," Doshu commented.

"If you were my pet, I'd keep you in a cage," Matsurika smoothly answered her.

Doshu scowled at her, but by the end of their exchange, Botan had finally swallowed her piece of apple and was able to talk.

"I'm so sorry to bother you," she began.

"Just make it quick, you're holding up paying customers," Matsurika flatly answered her.

"Do you charge everyone in the queue?" Doshu asked. "You know, since they just basically got a front row seat to your little performance there..."

"Where I come from we eat bird demons like you," Matsurika answered her. "We pluck them of all their feather while they are still alive, then we insert a stick into their anal cavities and spike them into a low-burning fire. Their death is slow, because we like to cook the meat very slowly."

"Well I know that's bullshit," Doshu snorted. "Your people don't even light fires."

Matsurika's face changed so suddenly Botan leapt back, colliding with the man behind her.

"Oopsy, sorry!" she muttered when he glared down at her.

"I didn't come here for you, Uso!" he told her.

"Oh, well, isn't that... Nice," Botan awkwardly replied, before stepping up to the counter again.

"What do you two want?" Matsurika asked. "More arrows?"

She reached under the counter and brought out a handful of more of the arrows Botan had acquired from her before, which Botan gladly gathered up.

"What were you talking to Yusuke and Kuwabara about?" Doshu asked, glaring up at Matsurika, as though daring her to lie in her response.

"Wait a minute..." Botan said, touching a finger to her chin. "Doshu, how do you know my friends' names are Yusuke and Kuwabara?"

Botan looked down at Doshu, and, for a brief moment, saw a horrified look on her winged friend's face.

"You told me," the bird demon recovered.

"I did?" Botan asked.

"Yes, you did," Doshu replied, nodding her head.

"Hm..."

Botan turned back to Matsurika, and caught her giving Doshu an almost accusing look. Botan frowned at her suspiciously and the look quickly left her face.

"Your friends, yes," she said. "The slick one and the manly one."

Botan still found it odd the way Matsurika almost literally melted when she spoke about Kuwabara, since she had never seen any female so affected by him.

"They were looking for Yukina."

"Yukina?" Botan yelped.

"You know her?"

"Know her? She's one of my best friends! But... How could Kuwabara lose her? He always knows where she is – he has that red thread of fate thing to help him always find her!"

Matsurika shrugged, but her face also distinctly darkened.

"Well maybe he needs to tighten it up," she said. "Or at least your friends need to smarten up. They let Yukina return to the ice village."

Botan glanced at Doshu, who shrugged her wings, but in what seemed to be an almost theatrical attempt to appear nonchalant. It was a vaguely suspicious action, but Botan was more concerned in that moment with why Matsurika's demeanour had changed so.

"I don't know why Yukina would want to go back there," Botan said, turning back to Matsurika. "After she came to live in the human world, she always said she had no regrets, that she hated the ice village. In fact, she once even said to Hiei that she didn't care if all the other ice maidens died!"

Matsurika gave a tight, humourless smile, her eyebrows flicking up briefly.

"Well, your friends said she went back," she said. "They let her go back. And now they think they might have made a mistake..."

Matsurika rested one elbow on the counter and leaned forwards and Botan duly copied her action, bringing their faces very close together.

"Are all humans that dumb?" Matsurika asked.

Botan tensed and tried to remain stoic, but eventually dissolved into a shiver.

"I can still smell that troll on you..." she quietly confessed.

"Do you like getting arrows from me for free?" Matsurika asked her, in an equally quiet tone.

Botan pursed her lips and edged away from the counter, hugging her arrows tightly to her chest.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Doshu said to her.

"So, um... Thank you..." Botan said to Matsurika, before flashing her an awkward grin.

She then turned and gladly followed Doshu away from the hut. As she walked, she could not help but wonder what had driven Yukina to return to her native village. Her attitude towards the ice village (and the ice maidens, in general) had come to reflect Hiei's over time. In fact, Botan thought to herself, in recent times, Yukina had become more hateful and critical of the ice maidens than Hiei had. Hiei had moved on, let go of their malice as a long distant part of his past he no longer even gave any thought to, but for Yukina, the memory of them and their ways was still relatively fresh. Yukina had often hinted at – but never given any detail on – her initial return home having been a very bad experience. After the group rescued her from Tarukane, Yukina had gone back to the ice village, and the next time anyone had seen her had been when she arrived at the Dark Tournament: which had always seemed odd to Botan. Yukina had always made it clear that the elders of her village despised men and disapproved of any of their kind mingling with men, and that they also opposed violence. By that logic, it made no sense whatsoever that they would have, as Yukina herself had claimed, given a young girl from their village permission to wander out into the heart if Demon World, unguarded, to attend a bloody, violent, fighting tournament, to seek out a man – a man they had so ceremoniously out cast, no less.

Something was wrong. Yukina would never just go back there. Botan wondered if Yukina was ever there at all. She wondered if Matsurika was lying to her. She was unsure if Matsurika could really be trusted, given that she so openly admitted how close she was to Uso, and that she sought to support Uso's taking of Botan's life. She wondered if Yusuke and Kuwabara already knew that Uso was a fake, and if they had contacted Matsurika, knowing that she was Uso's best friend, to ask her where Botan really was. She wondered if Matsurika had sent them away with false information and lied to Botan entirely about Yukina, knowing that she would worry about one of her dearest friends and the sister of her love, Hiei.

"I suppose you want feathers for your arrows?" Doshu asked as they walked.

"Oh, yes," Botan said, glancing down at her friend. "Does it hurt when you... Remove your feathers for this?"

"Not really," Doshu casually replied. "We used up all the spare ones I kept at Uso's apartment, but I can afford to lose a few more."

"I don't want you to hurt yourself," Botan insisted. "Maybe I don't even need any feathers for the arrows."

"The arrows need feathers. And the reason Uso used mine was that I am her partner, and my energy is linked to hers. My feathers contain small traces of my energy, and when she transfers her energy into an arrow, it mingles with the small amount of my energy, and they amplify each other. The strength of our bond makes the arrows more powerful, they fly faster, further, they hit harder."

"That's so sweet."

Doshu gave Botan a strange look.

"That the two of you are so close, I mean," Botan added. "Oh Doshu, do you miss her terribly?"

A very strange look fell over Doshu's face.

"Oh dear, you look so sad!" Botan said. "You do miss her, don't you?"

Doshu said nothing, but for Botan, her silence was answer enough.

"Well take heart, because I have a plan for how you can get her back!"

"Another one?"

"Yes! But I will need your help: how far away from here is the city of ghosts and apparitions?"

A frown slowly formed on Doshu's face, but Botan remained upbeat: the Spirit World owned city was a landmark well-known in both the spirit and demon worlds, and it was close to where the SDF were planning to extend the borders between the worlds. From that city, Botan guessed that she could easily find an SDF officer, who would have a psychic spyglass, and be able to see that she was not really a demon, and finally take her home and arrest that vile woman Uso.

It was a perfect plan with no possible drawbacks whatsoever.

* * *

Botan was not quite sure what she was looking at. From her current vantage point, on the outskirts of the city of ghosts and apparitions, it was difficult to quantify what she was looking at, but she could see enough to know that something was drastically amiss. At her side, Doshu had taken perch in a nearby tree, her eyes slightly thinned and fixed onto the same, glowing aura in the distance that Botan was watching.

"Oh hi there!"

Botan shrieked and leapt around, almost strangling herself as she clumsily tried to unhook her bow from over her back. However, she quickly forgot the need to arm herself when a cheetah-like girl stepped out from the shadows, clearly with a very low power level and with a generally affable aura about her.

"Don't I know you?" she asked.

"I'm not who you think I am..." Botan moodily replied.

The girl glanced up at Doshu.

"I'm sure I saw you here before, with your bird companion..." she mused.

Botan sighed: clearly the girl was mistaking her for Uso.

"Alright fine," she said with a sigh of resignation. "I'm a masquerader and this is my partner."

The cheetah girl took a longer look up at Doshu before turning back to Botan.

"Oh, well, my mistake!" she said cheerfully. "I could have sworn you were someone else entirely..."

Botan watched the girl carry on across a field of crops on the very edge of the city of ghosts and apparitions, watching her for several seconds before turning confused eyes to Doshu.

"What was that about?" Doshu asked her as their eyes met.

"I don't know," Botan replied. "I thought you might know. It seemed like a demon thing – and I still don't really understand the demon way of doing things. You know, I always hoped that was something Hiei would teach me one day. I always hoped I could come here with him and he would show me the demon way."

Doshu gave Botan one of her flat looks again.

"Your dream is to have someone take you here, to the city of ghosts and apparitions, and teach you the nuances of demon behaviours?"

"Well, maybe not specifically here to this exact city, more like – do you know, when I hear you say it, it sounds so silly..."

Botan touched a finger to her chin and frowned curiously. In the tree above her head, Doshu gave a shake, her feathers ruffling, a sound Botan had started to grow accustomed to hearing.

"Things look a little wild over there," she commented. "Are you still sure you want to do this?"

Botan looked back over at the border between Demon World and Spirit World – it was literally the closest she had come to going home since being so unceremoniously dumped in Demon World by the Border Patrol – and found herself agreeing with her companion. During the briefing she and the others had received from Officer Ryuhi, the plan was for the SDF to expand the border in a rolling radius, taking ground in increments, moving a little further each day. Ryuhi was to scout ahead, Rinbai and Shun-Jun was to patrol back and forth along the length of the border, and the other officers were to stretch or dismantle and rebuild the barriers. The whole process was meant to last two weeks, by the end of which time, the SDF would spend a further week checking the security and sustainability of the new border.

But that was clearly not what was happening.

Botan wondered why what she was looking at was so very different from the plans Ryuhi had so confidently shared. The unofficial leader of the SDF had spoken as though the plans had been a long time in the making, and universally researched, accepted and understood by her fellow officers: but, instead of the expanding border appearing as a smooth, expanding semi-circle, it was a jagged mess, and looked to even have some weak points in it.

"Something isn't right," Botan said taking a few steps forward.

"Wait here, I'll scout ahead," Doshu offered.

Botan nodded and Doshu duly rocketed off, shooting across the land. She slowed only a little as she passed across the front of the new border, before turning and darting back, landing back on the same branch she had been perched on before departing.

"We shouldn't go over there," she concluded.

"Why not?" Botan asked.

"Because there are a lot of other demons already over there, presumably drawn in by the spirit energy those soldiers are exerting, and it's chaos," Doshu replied. "Your soldiers and killing anyone who gets close: one of them even took a couple of shots at me, and I was only there for seconds."

"But I have to go over there," Botan insisted. "Something isn't right over there, and when they see me, they will recognise me, and let me back into Spirit World!"

"Botan... Your friends didn't recognise you and neither will those soldiers. When Uso took your life, she gave you hers. You are a demon now, and they are killing demons on sight. Even if you could say or do something to make them recognise you, you won't get close enough to say it before they take you out!"

Botan paused long enough to consider the increasing urgency in Doshu's tone and the intense look in her eyes. She did really respect Doshu's opinion on anything – but especially on matters related to Demon World – but what she also understood from what she was hearing was that her choices were to let Uso continue flaunting her notebook (including potentially showing very critical parts of it to Hiei) or get killed by the SDF, which would lead to her soul returning to Spirit World – the place she wanted to be – and Uso's little trick being undone.

"I have to try!" she said, before turning and running off.

"Botan!" Doshu cried. "Wait! Don't do it!"

Botan carried on, silently hoping that Doshu would not follow her, mainly because she did not want her friend to get hurt accidentally. The memory of Yusuke and Kuwabara looking right through her earlier that day was still fresh in her mind, but she was sure that she could convince the SDF of who she really was. It was their job to see through demon trickery, they had been doing so for centuries, after all. Yusuke and Kuwabara were smart, but not experienced enough in the wiles of a demon to have seen the truth, she told herself. Kurama would have instantly recognised her. Hiei would have used his Jagan Eye and seen the truth.

Botan began to slow down slightly. Why had Hiei not already used his Jagan Eye to see the truth? Why had Kurama not already realised that Uso was not her? Why had Shizuru not already seen through Uso's lies? Surely by now even smart and critical Keiko should have noticed something was amiss.

Botan came to a complete halt, having only covered about two thirds of the distance from her previous hiding place to the edge of the border into Spirit World.

What if Matsurika's question actually held merit: what if Hiei had developed feelings for Uso, even knowing that she was, in fact, Uso?

What if Hiei, Kurama, Shizuru and Keiko already knew that Uso was a fake, but said and did nothing because they preferred her to Botan? What if everyone felt that way?

"Get down!"

Botan yelped as Doshu collided hard with her back, her feet kicking right between Botan's shoulder-blades and knocking her over. She landed face down on the ground, Doshu on top of her. She turned her head enough to see Doshu flatten herself against her back as a burst of spirit energy shot over them. There was a slight hissing sound and Doshu groaned.

"Are you okay?" Botan asked her.

Doshu hopped off of Botan's back and turned to look back at her tail. Although her tail was short, it did have a habit of sticking up like a fan, and must have done so when she had ducked down, the highest of her tail feathers sizzling and smoking.

"Oh my goodness!" Botan gasped, sitting up abruptly. "Are you alright?"

"It didn't actually hit me," Doshu said, shaking herself off. "It just passed by a bit too close. No damage done, just a bit of singeing."

"Will you be alright?" Botan asked. "Will you still be able to fly alright?"

Doshu turned around to fully face Botan, throwing her a strange look, the longer feathers around her head shrinking back down.

"I can't let anything happen to you," she said in a strange voice. "A direct hit from that blast, unguarded as you were, would have killed you. I had to intervene, to save your life."

"You're my little angel, Doshu!" Botan said, clasping her hands together. "Always there, looking out for me. Where would I be now if it weren't for you?"

One of Doshu's eyes noticeably twitched.

"I'm your partner, it's my duty," she said.

"Oh Doshu, you're more than my partner, remember?" Botan answered her. "You're my friend!"

"...Are you my friend?" Doshu asked, sounding almost wary of both the question and what the answer might be.

"Of course I am!" Botan replied, nodding enthusiastically. "That's why I stole all those apples from Matsurika for you! I know you like them!"

Doshu tilted her head slightly to one side.

"And you're right, this was a bad idea," Botan reluctantly admitted, waving a hand at the glowing screen ahead of her. "I should have listened to you. You always know what's best. You've taken such good care of me, I hope we can stay friends even after I, well, you know, once all this is over."

"If this ends, you would have no more use for me," Doshu replied.

"Well that's a fine way to put it!" Botan snapped. "I don't use you! We're friends, we help each other! Granted, you help me a lot more than I help you, but I certainly don't use you! I care about you!"

"Care?"

Doshu said the word as though it was the first time she had ever heard or said it herself.

"Yes, silly!" Botan replied. "Maybe we should go home, get some rest. This idea clearly isn't going to work – just like you said it wouldn't – so that means we're back to my original plan."

"...Which is...?" Doshu asked, her feathers lifting up again, her way of regarding Botan becoming once more sceptical.

"I shoot Uso's face off and take my life back by force," Botan said with determination. "I'm going to get some sleep, get up early, have a good breakfast, and then I'm going for some target practice."

Doshu looked over at the border, her eyes moving about as she surveyed the SDF's unexpectedly messy and disorganised expansion attempt.

"You know," she said after a bit, turning to face Botan again. "Uso could hit a moving target. And she could hit a target from the air, too."

Botan's eyebrows shot up.

"I could help you try that, if you like," Doshu offered.

Botan nodded.

"That sounds like fun!" she said.

"Good," Doshu said. "Now let's go home."

Botan started to crawl away, too afraid to stand lest she get shot at again: but she did not move far before she felt Doshu grabbing onto the straps over her shoulders and hauling her into the air. It was still an exhilarating experience flying with her bird companion: and even when Doshu had suggested they "go home", the first thought in Botan's mind had been to return to the dank apartment, in the dirty demon city.

Botan found herself thinking about Doshu's earlier comment: "when Uso took your life, she gave you hers; you are a demon now".

She wondered just how true that statement was.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Doshu teaches Botan how to battle like a demon and Botan believes they are just the best of buddies: however, when Doshu goes out on her own and Matsurika tells Botan the truth about where the bird demon has gone, it gives Botan a lot to think about. **Chapter 11b: Devil**

 **A/N:** I don't know if everyone remembers or not, but we're heading back towards that super dramatic emotional chapter 12 again... And 12b shows what 12a only hinted at.

Self-referential insert in this chapter, because I always have to


	28. Devil

**Chapter 11b: Devil**

Botan awoke with a groan. Even for an apartment with holes for windows and doors, the noise coming from the street below seemed excessive. She had been sleeping facedown, and, with a weary effort, she pressed her hands against her ragged bedding and pushed herself up. With the bed gone, she had simply piled up all of Uso's clothes in the centre of the room and laid on top of them – but, as she lifted herself up, she could feel a blanket of some kind sliding off her shoulders. She turned her head to see immediately at her bedside her masque, her vicious knife, stowed in its garter sheath, her freshly stocked quiver, and her bow. Beyond that, in the corner of the room, Doshu was nestled onto a large pillow or cushion, mounted on a small shelf. She was ruffled up and her pointed head feathers laid flat, but her eyes were fractionally open.

"What time is it?" Botan asked her.

"Happy hour," Doshu replied.

Botan made the effort to push herself all the way up onto all fours before sitting back onto her heels.

"We went to bed really early," Doshu added.

Botan caught the blanket just before it fell from her back entirely.

"Where did this come from?" she asked through a yawn.

"I stole it from one of the other apartments and put it over you while you slept," Doshu replied, as though it was no big deal. "You looked cold."

Botan bundled up the blanket, eying it over suspiciously.

"Don't worry about it," Doshu assured her. "It will be some time before anyone notices it missing – if at all."

Botan, who had been quite concerned about handling stolen goods, instead of expressing her outrage, simply nodded her head, her eyes roving over the beautifully stitched quilt.

"The people who live in this city, live in horrible homes," she said slowly. "But they all have such beautiful, fine possessions."

"That's the trade off," Doshu replied as she began stretching out her legs one at a time. "If they spend their money making this city look good, more powerful demons will seize it for themselves. They made it look poor from the outside so the S-class, A-class and B-class demons stay away."

"Oh, well I suppose that makes sense."

Botan stood up and stretched her arms above her head.

"Do you want to go for target practise?" Doshu asked, hopping down from her bed onto the short length of worktop in the kitchen area of the room.

"Yes, let's," Botan said, stepping into her boots.

"I'll teach you how to fall."

Botan snorted in amusement as she pulled on her masque – which she mostly continued to wear because it was a convenient way to keep her increasingly wild hair out of her face.

"Doshu I am a ferry girl," she said. "Or rather, I used to be a ferry girl… Anyway, my point is, I've fallen more times than you've eaten apples."

Botan secured her knife at her left thigh and then turned to Doshu, finding her wearing one of her unimpressed looks.

"What is it this time?" Botan asked sulkily.

"Are you forgetting how we met?" the bird demon responded. "You were falling and I had to catch you."

"That was different," Botan snootily replied. "I was thrown from a cliff! I was almost struck by lightning!"

"If you want to be as good as Uso was, you need to be able to hit a moving target, you need to be able to hit a target from the air, and you need to be able to hit a target after I drop you, while you are falling to the ground."

Botan paused.

"You never said anything about dropping me," she said in a low voice.

Doshu's feathers perked up again, framing her face, a sly glint appearing in her eyes.

"I'll catch you if you get in any danger," she offered.

"Well alright then," Botan said with a shrug. "I trust you."

Botan meant what she had said: in a short time, she had literally come to trust Doshu with her life. Doshu had saved her on her arrival to Demon World, guided her through her life there, and she was sure that the bird demon would also help her return home. With her quiver and bow over her shoulders, Botan turned to her companion to suggest they leave, but when she did so, she found Doshu suddenly looking up at her with wide eyes, looking suddenly very sad and pathetic.

"Are you alright?" Botan asked her.

"Do you like living here, in Demon World?" Doshu asked.

"No," Botan flatly replied.

"Oh."

Doshu looked so incredibly crestfallen, Botan immediately regretted the frankness of her reply.

"I mean, I like living with you Doshu, just not here, in this crummy apartment," she quickly qualified her answer.

"But… You don't want to stay here, in Demon World?" Doshu asked.

"No, definitely not."

"Not even if we moved to a nicer neighbourhood?"

Botan smiled and touched a hand to the top of Doshu's head.

"Don't worry, Doshu," she said gently. "After this is all over, after I get my life back and return to Spirit World, you and I can still be friends. I can visit you here, and you can visit me in Spirit World, and you can come and meet my other friends in the human world. I think you'll like them, and I know they'll like you, especially Yukina. Yukina loves birds best of all."

"Yukina…"

"Yes."

"The ice maiden."

"Yes, that's the one."

Doshu looked even more miserable than before.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

Doshu stiffly nodded.

"Then let's eat and go."

Botan moved over to the bag of food she had taken from Matsurika's kitchen, but even the lure of a golden apple was not enough to brighten Doshu any or even to bring her over. Perhaps she was just tired, Botan concluded.

* * *

As Doshu flew out over the city to the countryside beyond, which looked quite pretty in the early light of dawn, she silently wondered what had become of Yukina. Or Shizuru. Or Keiko. Or Kurama. Or Yusuke and Kuwabara, who seemed to also be on a false mission set for them by Uso, no doubt aided by Matsurika, who would surely have given the boys the wrong directions to the ice village to keep them distracted and out of Uso's way. Botan was such a good friend – not that Doshu had anything to benchmark her against, as Botan was also Doshu's first ever friend – but Botan was also not a fool, something Doshu could see far clearer than Uso, who had obviously underestimated the ferry girl. Botan did not give away her trust or complete companionship easily, and yet she had given both to Doshu, who had betrayed her multiple times and in so many ways already.

Doshu brought them to the same patch of trees Botan had used for target practise before, taking them to a hover some distance back from the trees.

"Alright, I'm going to try this," Botan said, reaching back and retrieving an arrow.

She loaded the arrow into her bow and took aim at the trees, pausing as she realised the obvious difference in her angle of trajectory and the slight bobbing that hovering in the air caused.

"Okay, just breathe and believe, right?"

Botan focused her energy into the arrow and fired. She managed a glancing shot at a tree, but seemed pleased with herself. Doshu began to fly around the cluster of trees, moving slowly and at a consistent height.

"Try it now," she suggested.

"Okay…"

Botan again tried, her arrow flying wildly off target and landing beyond the entire cluster of trees. Doshu turned and circled in the opposite direction, and again Botan tried. They continued like that until Botan finally managed to hit a tree – though whether it was the tree she had been aiming for or not was never clarified.

"Are you going to drop me now?" Botan asked, looking up at Doshu.

"We can try it," Doshu offered.

"Do it, I have to get this," Botan insisted.

"Okay."

Doshu opened her toes and Botan began to fall, her loose, wavy hair flying upwards above her as she dropped towards the ground. She managed to fire a shot, which went between the trees and into the thick of the small forest, but, most impressively as far as Doshu was concerned, Botan managed to get into position and land in a controlled crouch. Doshu flew down to join her, landing at her side.

"This is going to take time to get the hang of," Botan commented.

"You're doing really well," Doshu replied.

It was not entirely true – her technique had certainly improved, but she was a far cry from Uso's skill level.

"Oh thank you Doshu," Botan replied, smiling at her. "It makes it so much easier having a good friend like you around to help me."

Doshu tensed. It was becoming painful – actually physically painful – to listen to Botan talk so kindly to and about her.

"Are you ready to go again?" she asked Botan.

Botan nodded and Doshu duly lifted her into the air again. They continued on until Botan was out of arrows, during which time she did improve slightly. Botan then asked to be put down to recover as many arrows as she could, to save them the need to "buy" more, and so Doshu used the opportunity to make her exit.

"Botan, I have to go," she said.

Botan hesitated, tilting her head curiously.

"I have to do something," Doshu added. "I, um, have to… Try to get your notebook, remember?"

"Oh yes, if you think you can recover it, that would be very helpful," Botan agreed, "I'll probably be here a while picking up these arrows, off you go."

Doshu nodded and quickly took her leave. She started for the portal to the living world, but as she neared it, she found herself jarring to a halt. She hovered on point, peering down at the land below, needing to confirm with her eyes what she had felt.

Uso, dressed as Botan, was walking with Hiei towards the gates of Mukuro's base.

Doshu swooped down and hid in a tree, waiting for her moment to carry out her plan.

* * *

Botan had managed to recover all but four of the arrows she had fired, and only three of those she had recovered were damaged. She had put the good arrows in her quiver and dumped the damaged ones, then sat down and waited for Doshu to return. When her friend did not return after some time, Botan had started to walk back to the city. The walk was a long one, but she made it – relatively unhindered – all the way back to the city centre, and still Doshu had not returned. As she arrived back in the city, she caught Matsurika exiting a shop, wearing her typical dreamy expression, her lilac hair lilting in the breeze.

"Hello, yoo-hoo!" Botan called out to her, waving a hand in the air.

Matsurika's face changed instantly, her expression hardening, and she altered her angle and quickened her pace, shortly joining Botan.

"Uso doesn't behave that way, she would never call out "yoo-hoo" and wave her hand in the air like that," Matsurika said in an admonishing tone.

"Well, in my defence, I'm not actually Uso," Botan pointed out.

Matsurika pointedly looked at the air above Botan's head, then looked down around her feet.

"No spunky feathered friend with you today?" she asked, finally meeting Botan's eyes again.

"Doshu has gone on an errand," Botan replied.

"You didn't get enough food when you filled a bag at my place yesterday?" Matsurika asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's not an errand for more food," Botan corrected her. "It's a secret errand."

Matsurika gave Botan a long, hard, piercing look, one that almost made Botan feel as though she was being accused of something or that she might be in imminent danger.

"I'm just trying to decide whether you're an idiot or in denial," she eventually said.

"Well both options sound like insults…" Botan muttered, scowling back at her.

"Either you are still in denial about the fact that you are stuck in Demon World and your life has been taken, or you are an idiot who can't see what's really happening right under your nose," Matsurika replied.

"I know perfectly well what Uso has done to me, thank you very much!" Botan snottily shot back. "I'm not in denial, and I'm not an idiot: I can see what's happening!"

"You can?"

"Yes, I can!"

"So you can see that Doshu is a partner demon, and regardless of whose life Uso is living, Doshu will always remain faithful to Uso, no matter what?"

Botan faltered slightly, something about Matsurika's sharp tone suggesting there perhaps was more going on than she was aware of.

"I-I know that Doshu and Uso were partners," she said quietly. "And I believe that Doshu misses Uso–"

"Uso and Doshu are partners," Matsurika cut her off. "Are, not were. And it would be difficult for Doshu to really miss Uso, especially when she has been visiting her every day since she took your life: sometimes multiple times in one day!"

Botan froze.

"You didn't know?" Matsurika asked. "Well that at least explains why you were being so tolerant of that flying traitor. Doshu isn't your friend, Botan, she's a partner. She isn't even Uso's friend. She has no feelings, no ambitions and no motivations outside of her own survival, and she ensures that by bonding herself to a demon stronger and more resourceful than she is, and that demon is Uso."

"But…"

"But nothing! Right now, Doshu is with Uso, telling her anything useful that she's learned from you to help Uso continue her deception – to help her keep hold of your life – and the only reason Doshu seems to be looking out for you is because she needs to keep you here and keep you alive to give Uso sufficient time and space to seal your fate!"

Botan was struggling to process every part of what the street vendor was telling her, and so she latched onto the one part she felt she could attempt to come to terms with – because admitting that Doshu had been using her friendship and abusing her trust all along was simply too much for her to bear right then.

"Seal my fate?" she asked. "What do you mean by that?"

Matsurika threw her hands up in the air and laughed humourlessly.

"What, your "good friend" Doshu didn't tell you about that part?" she asked.

Botan slowly shook her head.

"A masquerader takes your life," Matsurika said. "They have the unconditional ability to do that. And a good enough masquerader can take any life she chooses. But her ability to keep your life is conditional. If she can fulfil a certain number of requirements, she can seal her spell, and keep your life forever, leaving you here, like this, forever."

Botan felt a horrible sinking sensation – rapid sinking sensation – the same sensation she had felt when she had first landed in Demon World and realised what Uso had done to her.

"You don't believe me?" Matsurika asked. "What benefit would I have from lying to you? I don't want you to be stuck here. I want Uso to succeed and get what she wants, but also, honestly, I want her back here with me. If she came back, I'd take her away somewhere, and we'd live a better life than this. I can see now I should have done that a long time ago. Maybe if I get rid of you, it will bring her back."

"What are they?"

"What are what?"

"The conditions. What are the conditions that must be fulfilled in order for Uso to… Seal my fate?"

Matsurika looked vaguely guilty for a moment and Botan began to panic: maybe it was already too late.

"She has to secure herself in your life," she eventually answered. "And, based on our earlier discussion, I'd say that involves your precious Hiei."

"Hiei?" Botan asked. "How? How does it involve him?"

"Well, your deal is that you're secretly in love with him, right?" Matsurika asked.

Botan nodded, no longer caring if every creature across all three worlds knew about her feelings for Hiei. In fact, she thought miserably, with Uso controlling her notebook, all the people who mattered to her probably knew every part of her deepest secrets already anyway.

"Then I guess if she kisses him, or makes him fall in love with her, or something like that," Matsurika said. "I don't know exactly."

"What you said before, about Hiei maybe falling in love with Uso…" Botan began.

"It could happen," Matsurika finished for her. "And that would probably seal your fate. And hers. And his, now that I think of it."

"How will I know? If it happens, if she "seals my fate", how will I know?"

"You'll change."

Botan had not honestly expected Matsurika to answer her at all. She had thought there would be no real way of knowing, and hearing that there was only made the situation all the more fraught.

"Any remaining ties your soul had left to your spirit energy will be severed permanently," Matsurika said, sounding far too calm and matter-of-fact about it for Botan's liking. "You will be a demon forever, regardless of whether Uso is killed or destroyed, and even if you die, Uso will remain as a ferry girl."

Botan looked down at her hands.

"If it's any consolation, you will become more powerful," Matsurika added, as though she actually thought her words would be consolation for the devastating blow she had just delivered.

Botan swallowed hard and lifted her head to meet Matsurika's eyes.

"Where is Doshu right now?" she asked.

"I don't know," Matsurika replied. "Where is Uso right now?"

Botan's face fell, at first assuming her enemy's friend was mocking her: but then she realised that Matsurika's response was probably the most help she could offer. The only way to find Doshu, would be to find Uso.

"So all those times Doshu went to the living world to try to get my notebook back…?" Botan muttered, more to herself, in realisation, than posing an actual question to be answered.

"She was meeting with Uso and passing on any information you'd given her," Matsurika replied regardless.

Botan looked down at her hands again. With Doshu gone, no way to leave Demon World without getting arrested and no way to reach any of her friends, Botan did not even know where to begin looking for Doshu. She did not even have the advantage of her oar to go up high and look around for any sign of the bird demon or anyone else she knew. Yusuke and Kuwabara would be too far gone, at the speeds they ran, for her to catch up to them.

The only other slim possibility she had of finding help was to seek out Hiei, in the hope that he was still in Demon World.

"Matsurika, where does Mukuro live?" Botan asked.

"Alaric," Matsurika flatly replied.

"I know that," Botan said with a sigh. "I meant where in Alaric?"

"If you're asking me how you get to Mukuro from here, the answer is simple: follow the next Border Patrol vehicle that passes over."

Matsurika pointed up towards a road in the side of a hill on one edge of the city. Botan nodded at her in thanks and took off, running as fast as she possibly could – which, it turned out, was a good deal faster than usual, thanks to her demon energy – taking herself all the way to the base of the hill. She paused to consider how best to continue, as the climb up to the road was a steep one, but her chance to debate was taken from her when a large white vehicle – just like the one she had been thrown from by the Border Patrol officers – rolled around the corner.

Botan scrambled up the hillside, largely believing that the vehicle would pass by her and she would miss her chance to catch or even follow it anywhere, but spurred on by the thought that what she was doing right then was something she should have done right from the start. Hiei's Jagan Eye would see the truth, she should have gone to him without hesitation. Her hesitation had, of course, been borne from her horror at the idea that Uso might read certain parts of her notebook to Hiei, and her initial response to that outcome was that she never wanted to see Hiei again, lest she die of shame.

She finally reached the ledge up onto the road, hauling herself up and staggering into the middle of the road. The vehicle had passed, but not by far, but it was unfortunately moving very quickly away from her. She started to run after it, running as fast and hard as she could, watching in pained frustration as it continued to move away from her. She decided to just push as hard as she could and follow it for as long as she could, as it would at least bring her a little closer to her goal.

And then, as though by some miracle, the speed difference between her and the vehicle diminished until soon she was catching up to it. Faster and faster, Botan was catching up to the enormous, foreboding vehicle.

Botan screamed and leapt off the road into the grit on the upper slope of the hill as the vehicle reversed over the spot she had been running towards, before stopping, just a little way behind her. She frowned as the vehicle gave a small hissing sound and a door opened on her side of the vehicle. A vaguely familiar, rat-faced, grey-skinned, hunchbacked old demon leaned old and grinned at her in a menacing way.

"Well, well, well," he purred.

"Oh dear, not you again…" Botan groaned as she finally recognised him as the same patrol officer who had demanded her ejection from his vehicle upon her arrival in Demon World.

"Were you chasing me, Uso?" he asked.

Botan opened her mouth to berate him, but memories of Matsurika's warnings rang in her mind, and the thought of becoming Uso forever and never seeing her friends again was too great a sacrifice to make.

"Yes, I was," she replied, trying to sound confident. "I missed you. I wanted to come and visit you at your home."

The old man sniggered and Botan shuddered: but, she told herself, Doshu had at least been right when she had said that the best way for her to survive in Demon World was for her to pretend to be Uso, and Botan was sure that this was something Uso would say and do.

"Are you saying you will come and stay with me now?" he asked. "For one full week?"

"Absolutely," Botan smoothly lied, standing up and trying to pretend she was not sweating from her run or scratched and bruised from her dive off the road.

"Excellent, come aboard."

Botan took a deep breath, and found herself adhering to another piece of advice Doshu had given her.

"Just breathe, and believe," she whispered to herself.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Botan charms Butachu to reach Mukuro's base, where she witnesses Uso attacking Doshu. Uso throws Doshu to her death and Botan makes a snap decision to save her: but it's an ill-planned decision that costs her dearly. **Chapter 12b: Only Friend of Mine**

 **A/N:** So this is the point where Hiei watching that CCTV footage becomes ironic...


	29. Only Friend of Mine

**Chapter 12b: Only Friend of Mine**

"You know Uso, for such a devil, you still have the face of an angel."

Botan forced a smile at the rat-faced old man at her side. He was disgusting, but she just had to pretend to like him long enough to reach Mukuro's compound, and, from peering down at the navigation screen the old man was hovering over, it seemed they were very close to that destination.

"You have such a pretty face," he continued. "You're really too pretty to be a common masquerader. I wonder why you do. You could live with me forever. I would take good care of you."

"That's nice," Botan tightly replied.

"If you don't like it at Mukuro's place, I could buy you a home anywhere in Demon World."

"Lovely."

"Your hair is lovely. It's such a pretty colour. It's the prettiest colour I've ever seen: though, you know, today, for the first time ever, I saw another girl with hair the exact same colour as yours. She had a very pretty face too. But she was an actual angel. She was a ferry girl."

Botan quietly clenched her fists at her sides, her leather gloves creaking and her knuckles whitening.

"Really?" she asked, as casually as she could, under the circumstances.

"Yes, she was with one of my colleagues, a moody little man named Hiei."

Botan clenched her teeth and fought the urge to reach for her bow. The only thing keeping her grounded at that moment was the thought that her instinct in her anger was to reach for her bow, and she wondered if that was because she had come to rely on it, or if it was the manifestation of exactly what Matsurika has forewarned: she had finally, completely, become Uso. The old man at her side certainly seemed to think that she was Uso: but he had also thought as much when he had picked her up in the living world immediately after Uso had swapped their energies.

"You know, the thing I would like the most from you, would be if you would go and run a bath for me," Botan began, an idea formulating in her mind.

"I have superior bathing facilities in my living quarters," the old man said.

Botan had to bite her tongue to stop herself from asking him why then did he not use that facility, since he was visibly dirty and emitting a quite horrid odour.

"Yes, I would like to just have a little walk when we arrive," she continued. "To stretch my legs – these vehicles are so tough to travel in – and while I do that, if you could prepare a bath for me, then–"

"Then I wash you in the bath."

Botan stiffened and had to fight to keep her mouth straight as a wave of disgust washed over her.

"Did-did you say you wish to watch me in the bath," she began slowly. "Or did you say you wish to wash me in the bath?"

"I wish to wash you with fragranced oils."

Botan shuddered and let out a noise of disgust despite her very best attempts to remain stoic. The old man shot her a sideward glare and she quickly covered her response, playing one hand through her hair.

"Oh-ho-ho," she said, hoping her voice did not sound as false to him as it did to her. "That sounds so… Sensual."

"Yes," he said, nodding his head and grinning a wide, brown-toothed grin. "You like that, don't you?"

"Oh yes, I really do!" Botan replied.

"We're almost there," he added. "I'm going to oil you up and then slide all over you."

"What does that even mea – I mean – I can't wait for that," Botan awkwardly replied.

"Yes…"

Botan suddenly wanted a bath, if only to literally wash herself since she felt so metaphorically dirty. The vehicle finally rolled to a halt and the old man and his colleagues disembarked: the old man offered Botan to walk ahead of him, but she had seen Keiko fall for that trick with Yusuke one too many times, and knew better than to accept, lest she have to contend with a hand groping at her rear-end as she walked. She made sure to exit last, jumping out of the vehicle, and into the world of Hiei.

Botan stepped away from the vehicle, looking all around herself in awe. She had heard Hiei talk about his home in Demon World, but she had never expected it to be such a large and foreboding structure, or that it would also be inhabited by hundreds of immeasurably powerful demons. Just the presence of so many powerful auras was almost too much, and Botan found herself hugging her elbows and cowering into herself a little as she walked.

"I shall prepare your bath, Uso," the old man told her.

"That's lovely, thank you so much," Botan mechanically answered him, her eyes still looking around the complex.

She could quite easily have become lost in the atmosphere of her surroundings, but Botan was shortly brought back to her senses when, mere moments after the old man had left her, she spotted a shadow fleeting through the sky. Against the backdrop of so many powerful auras, she could not pick out the energy signal, but she did not need to, as she already knew it would be Doshu. The bird demon flew to a point around the back of the building, and Botan duly ran in that direction to investigate.

Many demons watched Botan as she went, but many of them also appeared to recognise her, which only confirmed her suspicion that the old man had been a regular "client" of Uso's. Her ability to, even as a lowly D-class demon, walk amongst some of the most powerful demons in Demon World, in their own home, only proved that what Doshu had told her really was the best way to deal with her situation: as long as she dressed, walked and talked like Uso, she could survive in Demon World. And again, the thought that Doshu had given her so much helpful advice – and so much actual, practical help – only made her all the more sure about what she faced. She had had some time to think on the journey there – not much time, as the old man had insisted on speaking to her quite a lot, but still some – and she had come to the conclusion that what Matsurika had told her about Doshu still serving Uso was true.

Botan finally reached the back of the building and looked up, seeing a decent sized, circular balcony overhead: Doshu was perched on the railing, and she appeared to be speaking to Botan.

For a moment, Botan stood staring up at them, her jaw hanging open, her ears deaf to not only their conversation but to any sound at all, as she considered just how accurately Uso had taken on her appearance. She had straightened and tamed her hair, tying it up into a high ponytail like Botan usually would, and she was even wearing Botan's actual pink kimono.

"What are you saying to me, bird?" Uso asked Doshu, in her rough voice that sounded nothing like Botan's own.

"I wish to sever our alliance," Doshu replied. "I no longer wish to be your partner. I'm asking you to release me."

"You say that as though you think it's simple," Uso sneered.

"I hoped it was," Doshu replied. "I've been dismissed by other masters in the past. I'm asking you to dismiss me now."

"Why?"

"I no longer wish to be your partner."

"Answer me properly. What changed your mind?"

Doshu paused for a long time before answering, and as she waited for the answer to come, Botan edged back to try to get a better angle to better see Uso. The ground beneath the balcony was short, and beyond it was a steep – though not absolutely vertical – rocky cliff, falling down a dizzying height to a gravelly valley below. Botan carefully stepped down the rocky ledge, taking herself over the edge and down the steep slope, positioning her feet very carefully. The slope was almost vertical and covered in loose rocks, meaning she faced the very real risk of losing her balance and sliding all the way down to the ground far below.

Stabilising herself with her forearms on the edge of the drop, Botan looked up again, finally having a good enough angle to see that Uso was standing just outside of a large room inside Mukuro's compound.

"Botan."

Botan froze upon hearing Doshu say her name, momentarily assuming that she had been spotted.

"The idiot ferry girl?" Uso asked.

"She's not an idiot," Doshu quietly replied. "She's my friend."

Uso's face changed, warping in a way Botan had never seen her own face do.

"You idiot!" she scolded Doshu. "Coming here because you made "friends" with a spirit, asking me to release you: you are a tool. You are not anyone's "friend". You are just a tool, and you've expired your usefulness for me."

"Does that mean you will release me?" Doshu asked.

"Get out of here, and don't ever bother me again," Uso flatly replied. "I live here now, with Hiei. I clearly have no good use for a pathetic bird like you."

Botan felt her heart sink upon hearing Uso say that she lived with Hiei: and her moment of distraction caused one of her feet to slip. She scrambled to regain her balance, all the while slowly sliding down the drop.

"I have a request before I leave," she heard Doshu say.

"You dare request something of me?" Uso retorted.

"Give me Botan's notebook."

Botan finally lost her balance and began to slide, with increasing momentum, down the steep slope. She scrambled desperately about, eventually, out of desperation, grabbing the ugly knife from its sheath at her thigh and stabbing it into the rocky ground. Due to both the hook-like shape of the knife and the desperate strength Botan had used to drive it into the ground, it found hold and shortly halted her descent. Once she had her feet secured beneath her once more, Botan returned the knife to its sheath and looked up, intent on finding a way to climb back up. She had fallen quite some distance already, but not so much so that she could not very clearly see what happened above her next.

Doshu's lifeless body flew out over the edge of the drop, and began to plummet towards the ground. Botan, without thinking, turned around and grabbed her arms out, but closed them around empty space, rolling over herself twice before stopping on the unforgiving rocks. Doshu was falling fast and was apparently unconscious, the drop certain to be the death of her. As she had already passed Botan, there was really only one way Botan could catch up to her: and so, without any further thought on the matter, she leapt from the security of the cliff-face and began free-falling through the air.

With the momentum of her launch and her greater weight, Botan soon caught up to Doshu, who was clearly unconscious and very badly injured. She quickly threw her arms around her friend and pulled her in close to her body.

And then, with Doshu safe, Botan realised that she was plummeting a great distance with no way of breaking her fall and it was highly unlikely either of them would survive the impact with the ground.

Panicked but determined, Botan tried to move herself closer to the gravelled slope as she fell, her movements and the slight angle of the cliff finally crossing over. Her left foot was the first part of her to hit the rocky incline, the pain of the impact shooting up her leg. She did not have long to dwell on that particular pain however as her other leg hit the ground, and then her back. She slid down the rocks at high speed, tearing skin, painfully impacting with larger rocks as she went. The collisions and friction did, very gradually, slow her descent, until she ultimately slid onto her back on the ground below, Doshu still encased in her arms, and largely unaffected by the damage Botan had suffered.

Botan managed to look back up the slope, but promptly regretted doing so when all she saw was smears of blood over every rock she had slid over or bashed into. She groaned and closed her eyes, taking a moment to gather her strength. Once the initial shock of her fall had passed, she hauled herself into a sitting position and opened out her arms, Doshu flopping lifelessly onto her thighs.

"Doshu?" she whispered. "Can you hear me, Doshu?"

Doshu looked dead, and on instinct, Botan felt for a heartbeat. When she felt nothing she panicked again – but only briefly when touched a hand to her own chest and was reminded that the lack of a heartbeat meant very little to a demon. She then held her fingers over Doshu's beak, and when she felt a faint tickle of warm air, she optimistically took that as sign enough that her friend was indeed still alive.

Feeling renewed enthusiasm and motivated by emotion alone, despite her injuries, Botan gathered Doshu back up into her arms and stood up.

And that was when Botan realised that she had broken her left leg.

She cried out and stumbled awkwardly before falling onto her right hip. Without Doshu to fly her away, with a broken leg, and with no idea how to get back to her apartment, she finally realised that she was truly stuck. Doshu was going to die without help, and Botan, because she no longer had her ferry girl healing magic and because she had acted without thinking, was no longer able to help her: or even to help herself.

And if what Matsurika had said about Uso being able to seal Botan's fate as a demon by securing herself a relationship with Hiei had been true, then truly all hope was lost, as what more obvious sign was there that she had been successful than seeing her in Mukuro's compound and announcing that she was living there with Hiei.

Botan's head dropped and, for the first time since her arrival in Demon World, she surrendered entirely to the well of emotion within her. She slumped lower and let herself cry, openly and shamelessly, her tears soaking through her masque and dripping onto Doshu. Nothing was right: Hiei was in love with someone pretending to be her – even though he had never thought enough of the real Botan to fall in love with her before; even Yusuke and Kuwabara had failed to recognise her and passed her by; none of her friends in any of the three worlds had even suspected a thing or come looking for her; and now Doshu, her only remaining friend, would probably die.

"Please don't die, Doshu!" Botan wailed. "Please! You're my only friend, I need you! I can't do this without you – I can't do anything without you!"

Botan huddled into herself, holding Doshu as tightly as she could without injuring her further, and prayed for a miracle.

* * *

Botan awoke with a start, her first thought being that she had to get up and get help for Doshu. She tried to move, but found that her wounds had swollen and the full extent of them overtaken her, and she literally could not lift herself up.

"I'm not doing this for you, I just want to be clear about that."

Botan moved her eyes – apparently the only part of her body she still had full control of – to the source of the voice that had addressed her, finding Matsurika standing a short distance from her, cradling a white towel in her arms, with a small bunch of blue and pink feathers protruding from one end.

"Doshu!" Botan cried.

She tried to move, and did finally manage some movement, but really only managed to roll the upper half of her body onto one side.

"Is she okay?" she asked.

Matsurika gave Botan a very hard look before placing Doshu's bundled form down onto a nearby armchair.

"Also… Where are we?" Botan added, as it occurred to her then that she was lying on a very comfortable bed in a very lovely room.

"That old pervert at Mukuro's place was hiring out a couple of your peers – other masqueraders," Matsurika replied, in a tone so monotonous it would not have sounded out of place coming out of Hiei's mouth. "They were leaving and they heard you screaming. By the time they got to you, you were unconscious. They took you to me because they knew I could fix you up."

Botan peered back at her mangled left leg and the open wounds she was covered in, most of which were still wet with blood.

"You came round, briefly," Matsurika continued. "Maybe you don't remember: you begged me to save Doshu before I did anything for you. And, again, I'm not doing this for you."

Botan buried her face into the pillow and sighed. When she started to feel a warm, soothing sensation in her left leg, she turned her head again, looking back at Matsurika, who was standing at the side of the bed, her hands glowing white over Botan's broken bones.

"You have healing magic?" Botan asked her.

"Yes," Matsurika replied.

"I used to have healing magic..." Botan grumbled. "I was such a good healer... I was the second best healer any of my friends ever knew!"

"Yukina was the best healer they knew."

"Yes, that's right. Yukina, and then me."

"There has to be some advantage to being an ice maiden. We're not exactly powerful in other ways."

"I don't know about that, healing wasn't the only thing Yukina was capable of – wait, what?"

Botan tried to lift herself but hissed as aches in her back and shoulder kept her down.

"What did you just say?" she groaned out, her natural curiosity far outweighing her common sense. "Did you just say "we"?"

Matsurika nodded.

"Like as in you too are an ice maiden?"

Matsurika nodded again: then promptly fixed Botan with a fearsome glare.

"Outside of Uso and the ice maidens themselves, you are the only one who knows," she said sternly. "Not even that flying rat over there knows: you will not tell a soul."

"O-okay," Botan agreed nervously.

Matsurika turned her attention back to healing Botan's wounds and, for a little while, Botan let her continue in silence, before speaking up again, partly because she was feeling better with some of her wounds healed, but mostly because she was just far too curious to let the matter drop.

"So if you are an ice maiden, why do you work?" she asked. "You can literally make your own money!"

"And I do," Matsurika replied. "How do you think I pay for the goods I sell?"

"I thought you paid for them with... Well... With sex – but I see how silly that is now! As an ice maiden, you of course can't have sex with a man!"

"Nobody said I can't have sex with a man."

"No – well – obviously you physically can have sex with a man – I only really meant that you shouldn't – not that I'm telling you what to do – it's just that I am aware of the curse of the emiko – and I wouldn't want... Why are you laughing?"

"It's nothing."

Botan was certain it was not nothing, but she was also relieved that Matsurika had not been too offended by her candour, and so she chose to remain quiet. For some time, Botan lay on her stomach and Matsurika quietly moved between her wounds, healing them with a level of efficiency that rivalled only Yukina's. After a bit she asked Botan to move onto her back, and when the ferry girl did so, she let out a small laugh as she realised how much better she actually felt: when she had first landed at the base of the cliff, she had been sure that she would be crippled and in pain for the rest of her existence in Demon World.

"Botan?"

Botan propped herself up onto her elbows, looking over at the armchair as the bundle there began to stir.

"Botan?"

Doshu's head poked out of the towel and she looked about the room frantically.

"Doshu, you're alive!" Botan greeted her.

Doshu's eyes locked onto Botan and she visibly started.

"You're hurt, what happened to you?" she asked.

She hauled herself out from her encasing in the towel and shook herself off, as she often did when she first awoke: but instead of then stretching her legs and wings, she froze, her eyes growing large. She slowly opened out each of her wings in turn, eying them incredulously.

"I didn't do it for you, don't go getting any ideas, I still don't like you," Matsurika told her.

Doshu turned to Botan again.

"How did I...?" she said faintly.

"I was there, Doshu," Botan explained. "I caught you. And... I fell – again, like I've been doing so much lately – and I had to be rescued – again – but luckily we ended up here, with Matsruika, who has been so kind–"

"Knock it off," Matsurika grumbled.

"You... Caught me?" Doshu asked.

"You were falling," Botan replied. "And you've caught me many, many times when I was falling, so I suppose it was just my turn to catch you!"

Doshu gave her wings an experimental flap before jumping off the armchair and flying over to land on the bed beside Botan – on the opposite side Matsurika was standing, Botan noted.

"Botan, I have... Many things to tell you," she said.

"I already know," Botan assured her, lying back down, flat on her back. "You're Uso's partner. You were working for her all this time."

"Yes, that's true," Doshu replied.

Matsurika snorted and Doshu glowered at her.

"Please let me explain," she said to Botan. "Please allow me the chance to apologise to you, and your friends, and to redeem myself."

"There's nothing to explain," Botan replied. "You did a stupid thing. You're sorry for it, and that's fine. I forgive you."

"No, I really am sorry, Botan!"

"And I really do forgive you. Why wouldn't I?"

Botan propped herself up onto her elbows.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Doshu?" Botan said to her with a smile. "It doesn't matter where we are or what Uso made me, I'm still Botan, and Botan is someone who cares about her friends."

"You're my best friend," Doshu immediately replied.

"Doshu, you're my only friend," Botan answered her.

"So... Even though I... You still want to be my friend?"

Botan nodded.

"You are a terrible demon..." Doshu muttered.

"One thing we finally agree on," Matsurika muttered.

"Doshu, what you've done was stupid, but I never doubted that you were my friend," Botan said.

"You've been a real friend to me, you've treated me so much better than anyone else ever has," Doshu gushed.

"Only a true friend would be willing to die for her friend."

Doshu tilted her head.

"Doshu, you almost took a direct hit from a blast of energy launched by a member of the SDF," Botan reminded her. "You did it without thinking. You almost took that hit for me."

"She can't let you die, or the deal ends, remember?" Matsurika interjected.

"You weren't there," Botan shot back at her. "Doshu acted on instinct, and she did that because she is my friend, and it was her instinct to help me."

Doshu nodded.

"There is just one thing I have to ask of you Doshu, and I'm asking you as my friend," Botan said.

"Anything," Doshu said. "Anything at all."

"I didn't like what I saw going on at the border to Spirit World – I think they need help."

"You... Want me to help you help Spirit World?"

Doshu looked incredibly wary.

"And there is another thing I need your help with," Botan added. "I need you to tell me everything Uso has done, and I need you to help me fight her."

Doshu searched Botan's eyes for a long moment before opening her wings and flying over to the nearest window. Botan watched, in horror, as the bird demon fought with the latch, her large talons struggling at first to grip on, before finally she opened it, and she immediately shot out, quickly disappearing.

Botan turned to Matsurika, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Flying rat," she said. "If you want my advice, the best thing you could do right now is just accept your fate, and start learning how to live here."

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Botan reveals her plans but Matsurika insists she first ensure Yukina's safety. Matsurika tells Botan why she left the ice village – how she witnessed Hina's fate – and she tells Botan the secret to freeing Yukina without the use of violence. In return, Botan reveals what she was writing in her notebook the day Ryuhi was giving her briefing in Spirit World (chapter 1). **Chapter 13b: The Lie**


	30. B The Lie

**Chapter 13b: The Lie**

Botan still had not moved – despite the fact that Matsurika had made it quite obvious that she had overstayed her welcome – she remained sitting on the edge of the bed, her mind blank. As Doshu had abandoned her, she was, finally, truly alone. If any of her friends really knew her, they would surely have noticed that Uso was an impostor. Surely Yusuke, with his often uncanny ability to see through other people's falsities would have spotted one of her lies. Or Kuwabara, the super-sensitive psychic, would have noticed her winging it as she tried to pass herself off as Botan. Or Kurama, with his frightening way of just knowing things – or even just with his foxy sense of smell, ought to have noticed that the person wearing Botan's clothes was not Botan by her scent. Or Hiei, with his Jagan Eye, ought to have seen through the lie. Or Shizuru, with her sharp sense and unwavering instincts, should have noticed something was amiss. Or Keiko should have realised that the Botan she was talking to was out of sorts. Or Yukina should had realised that her friend was not her usual self.

But the truth was, none of them had, which could only mean one of two things: either Uso had already sealed Botan's fate and the swap was permanent, making it almost impossible to detect that Uso was a phony; or maybe everyone knew the truth, but said and did nothing because they all preferred Uso.

Botan sighed and was about to drop her head into her hands but stopped went Matsurika let out a severely irritated groan and then threw open a window. Botan gasped as Doshu swept back into the room, dropping a bag onto the bed behind her and hovering over it.

"It did it, Botan!" she said, her eyes sparkling enthusiastically. "Look!"

Botan, confused but mostly just relieved that her one remaining friend had come back to her, turned around to kneel on the bed, facing the bag Doshu had returned with.

"I stole a whole bundle of arrows!"

Doshu lifted up one side of the bag with one foot and clawed out a whole pile of the sparkling pink arrows Botan had always gotten from Matsurika.

"That's wonderful, Doshu!" Botan said. "You did that for me?"

"That's not the best part!" Doshu replied.

Botan frowned as she tried to contemplate what might be a better surprise: but soon found her jaw falling open, her eyes growing wide and every part of her freezing up as Doshu's feet clutched onto something at the very bottom of the bag, dragging it out and lifting it clear of the bag altogether.

"M-my..." Botan said. "My... N-notebook!"

Botan reached up shaking hands towards her precious, grey covered, dog-eared and ragged book. As her fingers made contact with the comfortingly familiar texture of her most treasured possession, Doshu released her hold of it, the reassuring weight of it in her hands making Botan whimper. She pulled it closer and opened the cover, whimpering again as she saw her inscription written there, unharmed. She flicked through the pages, seeing familiar passages and pictures, before squealing and hugging the book close to her chest. In front of her, Doshu landed on the bed.

"I wanted to show you I was serious," the bird demon said. "And I wanted to ask... If you would take me as your partner, Botan."

Botan lowered her eyes to Doshu's – the same colour as her own – looking back up at her earnestly, pleadingly.

"I'll help you take your life back," Doshu declared. "I will support you, I will help you, and I will fight Uso for you. I promise you, Botan."

Botan touched a hand to the top of Doshu's head.

"Doshu, you're already my partner – because you're my friend!" she said.

"You two are both so stupid," Matsurika grumbled under her breath.

"I will tell you everything I know," Doshu told Botan. "Right now. I did help Uso, and together, we've done a lot of bad things. Uso read your notebook, and she read what you wrote about Hiei. She thought those... Stories... Were real. She aggressively pursued a relationship with Hiei."

"I already know she's living with him here in Demon World," Botan replied.

"Yes, but they only just arrived here. She said Hiei was interested, but hesitant. Uso taking your life was not a random thing: she planned it out for a long time before she acted. There is a guard in the Border Patrol, named Butachu, who is obsessed with Uso."

"I've already had the unfortunate pleasure of making his acquaintance... Twice, in fact."

"Well, he allowed Uso to enter the human world, over and over, and for days at a time. While there, she found a human psychic who befriended her – a girl named Maya."

"Maya? Yes, Maya was with her the day she took my life!"

"Maya told Uso about a boy she once knew named Shuichi, and his friends Kuwabara and Keiko. They began watching them, and they soon figured out that Shuichi was really the legendary bandit Kurama. Uso was interested in him, but she knew he would see through her, whether she was masquerading or not. Then they saw you. Because you are so similar to Uso, she finally had a life she could take: yours. She knew she would have to get Kurama out the way, as he would see right through her, so she used Maya to keep him away from you."

"Really? How?"

"They played on the fact that Kurama already knew Maya – she was an old crush of his."

"Really?"

Botan began flicking through her notebook.

"This was a long time ago," Doshu pointed out.

"Here we go!" Botan said, stopping at a specific page. "Maya, auburn hair, small, pretty, psychic, met Kurama in middle school, witnessed Kurama and Hiei on a mission together, Kurama was forced to make her forget what she had seen!"

Doshu frowned and craned her neck to peer over at the pages Botan was studying. Botan turned her book around to show Doshu, who scanned over the pages, looking even more confused than when she had been trying to read the entry upside-down.

"It doesn't say any of what you just said in there!" Matsurika sneered.

Botan struggled to contain a smile: the ice maiden had been pretending to be disgusted by their conversation, but really she had been listening all along, secretly interested.

"Yes it does, see?" Botan said, pointing at the page.

The two demons leaned in closely, squinting at the page.

"This is just a drawing of a girl with bunny ears," Matsurika said.

"Yes, bunny ears mean she was small and pretty," Botan replied. "And she's wearing a middle school uniform. I drew her with red and green pens because those are Kurama's colours, so that I would remember she was significant to Kurama. I drew a Hiei Bat and a rose and the black cloud of lost memories because she met Hiei and Kurama on a mission, and Kurama had to make her forget what she saw."

Matsurika and Doshu were looking at her in a very strange way.

"My notebook is only so big," Botan reminded them. "So most of my notes on important information I need to remember are just doodles."

Botan turned her book back around and closed it over.

"So Doshu, what happened when Kurama and Maya were reunited?" she asked.

"Um, right," Doshu said, shaking off her daze. "Kurama was so caught off-guard by meeting Maya, and Maya played the part so well, she led him out into the forest, and entrapped him in an okui."

"An okui?" Botan asked.

"Classic Uso," Matsurika said, nodding her head. "It's a type of gremlin. If it gets a hold of you, there's no escape. The harder you struggle, the tighter it holds on."

"I can't believe Kurama would fall for such a cheap trick!" Botan gasped.

"He was tricked by Maya, she told him her pet rabbit was caught up in the thing, and he went in there to help," Doshu replied. "And now he's stuck there – I've seen him myself, he literally can't move."

"How do we get him out?"

Botan, by default, directed her question towards Matsurika.

"Why are you looking at me?" she asked. "Those things, once they get a hold of someone, are impossible to destroy without also killing their victim."

"That's not true, it has one weakness," Doshu said. "Something only those who use the okui know of: Uso knows it, and so do I. There is a small point in the centre of the okui's stomach: one hard, piercing, direct hit to that point will kill it and release its victim unharmed."

Botan grabbed up an arrow and Doshu nodded.

"Then what are we waiting for?" she asked, moving up onto her knees.

"There's more…" Doshu replied.

Botan slowly sank back down to rest her weight on her heels.

"Uso caught Keiko spying on Maya and took her to where Maya is holding Kurama," Doshu explained. "Both Kurama and Keiko and being held prisoner in the living world by Maya as we speak."

"So we can save them both!" Botan said.

"What about Yukina?"

Botan turned to Matsurika.

"Don't look at me like that," the ice maiden scoffed. "I hate my people, but I also know what it is to rebel against them. Yukina is in great danger, and your two idiot friends might not even get to her in time."

"Botan, it's my fault Yukina is in danger," Doshu added. "Uso ordered me to go to the ice village and report that Yukina was spreading information about the location of the village, she said the ice maidens would call for Yukina and that she would go back there. Uso wanted her out the way because she was meeting with Shizuru."

"Shizuru?" Botan asked.

"Kuwabara's sister?" Doshu replied. "Uso reported her to Koenma, told him that she was under the thrall of a demon, that she was leaking secrets to Demon World about the other worlds… Koenma, believing Uso was you, and trusting you implicitly on such a matter, had her arrested. She was taken to Spirit World, and I believe she is still there. Yukina was visiting her, and it made Uso suspicious of Yukina."

"That's awful, poor Shizuru! And poor Kuwabara, his sister in prison and his girlfriend leaving suddenly."

"So what?"

Botan and Doshu both flinched as Matsurika slapped her hands on the bed and stood up to commence pacing the length of the room.

"So the girl is in a cushy Spirit World prison cell and the boy has gone looking for the ice village with his irritating friend: what about Yukina?" she said angrily. "Do you know what the ice maidens do to traitors? Because I do. I've seen it first-hand. I saw them do it to Hina after she birthed an emiko – and that, what I saw that day, is the reason why I left the ice village!"

Botan looked at Doshu, who shrugged and shook her head.

"I was an adolescent at the time," Matsurika continued, still pacing the room with heavy feet. "They told me there was going to be a ceremony because Hina had given birth. They had already thrown her boy off the cliff to certain death, and we always had some sort of ceremony to welcome a new ice maiden into the village, so I assumed the ceremony was for the baby girl. I was wrong. We all lined up, and we were told to take a log – I don't even know where the hell the logs came from, there aren't any trees in the village or anywhere nearby – and we were told to carry it through the village. Up ahead of me, I'm watching all the others laying out logs around a damn cage, and Hina is inside the cage, standing there, clinging to the bars, looking like she wants to kill us all. I put my log down and I smile at her – because, stupid me, I still think this is a fun thing – and she just stares back at me with a look I know I will never forget! Next thing I know, the leader lights a torch – she ignites a flame – she brings fire into the ice village – the whole reason she just cast out the baby boy was to stop him bringing fire into the village, then this bitch goes and does exactly that! Then she tells us all to not look away, that anyone who tries to leave will be punished, and that this is what happens to an ice maiden who mingles with men. And then…"

Matsurika stopped pacing. Her back was turned to Botan and Doshu, but they could clearly see her shoulders heaving with every laboured breath she was taking.

"They burned her alive."

Botan yelped.

"They made us all watch," Matsurika continued. "It went on for a long time. The way they had us lay out the logs, the fire took a long time to take hold, a long time for the flames to spread inside the cage Hina was trapped in – and do you know what fire does to an ice maiden?"

Matsurika whipped around, her eyes glowing, a chill filling the air. Botan fearfully grabbed Doshu into her arms and Doshu pressed herself into Botan's chest without hesitation.

"The reason they fear fire is because the heat of the flames alone can make our skin blister and boil, long before the flames ever touch us! I had to watch as Hina died in the slowest, most painful, cruellest method those bitches could possibly dream up! As soon as it was over, I got my things and I ran and I never looked back! And now, now that you're dumb friends have let Yukina return, the same fate awaits her!"

Botan and Doshu both screamed and shivered as a cold draught washed over them. Matsurika looked no less riled up, but her aura did subside after that.

"I don't trust your stupid friend," she said, pointing accusingly at Botan. "And I don't trust your other friend either, no matter how handsome he might be!"

Botan sobered a little as she was reminded of Matsurika's instant attraction to Kuwabara.

"If you leave here to do anything, you will go to the ice village and make damn sure Yukina is alive!"

Botan nodded.

"It would be the most awful tragedy for Yukina to die the same way her own mother did."

"What?"

Botan leaned back and Doshu leaned into her as Matsurika stormed up to the edge of the bed.

"Nothing?" Botan feebly replied.

"You just said Yukina's mother!" Matsurika snapped.

"Yes, because you were talking about Hina," Botan said, her voice smaller and quieter still. "And the two babies she had were Hiei and Yukina–"

Matsurika straightened up and for a moment looked thoughtful.

"Your Hiei is an emiko?" she asked.

Botan nodded.

"So… He survived the fall?" she asked.

Botan nodded again.

"And now Hina's daughter has started a relationship with a very handsome, very masculine man."

"Well, Kuwabara certainly is… A man."

"And the elders believe Yukina betrayed their location, and now Yukina has returned to them."

"Yes."

Matsurika turned and left the room, her footsteps fading into silence. For a while after she had gone out of ear-shot, Botan and Doshu remained cuddled together on the bed, before they both finally started to relax and Doshu hopped back onto the bed in front of Botan.

"Well that was odd," Botan concluded.

"I know the way to the ice village, I can take you there," Doshu offered. "But that might be all I'm able to do – I managed to enter the village myself, but I won't be able take you with me."

"Maybe you won't need to," Botan said. "Maybe you could just go in and find Yukina and tell her–"

"Okay I'm trusting you with this, so you better not let me down, Botan of Spirit World."

Doshu leapt into Botan's arms again as Matsurika returned, looked as wild as before. She was carrying a small, ornate metal box, which she placed down on the bed beside Botan.

"You can use this to protect yourself from the cold," she explained. "After I left the ice village, a fire demon made this for me – it was supposed to protect against ice attacks, but that's not what it does, it merely gives immunity to the cold – and for a limited time only, so you must be quick. I can't use it myself, it's incompatible with my energy, as a demon of ice, but you should be just fine with it."

Matsurika opened the box and Botan and Matsurika both sighed in relief when they saw that it was just a talisman.

"What about the winds?" Doshu asked. "I can manage them on my own, but not carrying Botan."

"I'm sure you'll figure out a way to get into the village," Matsurika replied. "And once you're in, you won't need to worry about much else, because you're going to make the snow stop falling, the wind stop blowing and the fog disappear."

Botan and Doshu exchanged confused looks, but Matsurika looked oddly pleased with herself and very confident.

"You're going to take control of the entire village," she said, sounding almost too pleased about the prospect. "You're going to bring them to their knees, and they will have no choice but to obey your every order: and you will order them to release Yukina into your care. Not only will they do exactly that, but they will further do anything else you ask of them. They won't have any other choice."

Botan forced a smile and let out a small, awkward laugh.

"That sounds like a very idealistic plan," she said carefully. "But I'm not sure how you expect us to accomplish all that with just a little cold-proof talisman…?"

Matsurika's smile vanished, which was actually a relief for Botan, who had been finding it rather disturbing to behold.

"This isn't about the talisman, you idiot spirit woman," she said, sounding vaguely like Hiei, and leaving Botan wondering if Hiei's shortness of manner was an inherited trait from his mother after all. "This is about you playing those frozen bitches at their own game. They say they don't support violence in their village, so I want you to go in there and dominate them without being remotely violent."

"…Right…?" Botan responded.

"I'm going to arm you with the most powerful weapon anyone visiting the ice village could possibly wield," Matsurika said, starting to look and sound almost aroused by her own words.

"I thought you said no violence?" Doshu pointed out.

"Shut-up, you hook-nosed, flying rat!" Matsurika snapped. "This is bigger. The only reason that village exists, the only reason it continues to function, is because the residents all believe in it. But, do you know what the word "believe" is?"

Botan and Doshu shook their heads.

"It's the word "lie" with two letters either side of it," Matsurika explained.

"Oh, that's very clever," Botan muttered, opening her notebook and looking about for a pen to write down what she had just heard.

"The elders are the only ones who know the truth," Matsurika continued. "Well, the elders and me, and, after tonight, the two of you. I'm going to tell you something that I want you to repeat to the leader of the ice village. It's a simple, short thing, but when she hears an outsider speak it, she will be entirely at your mercy. She won't like hearing it, so you should be prepared for that, but I guarantee you she will do anything you ask of her if you threaten to tell all the others there what you know."

"It must be a very interesting thing."

"Yes, it is. I didn't leave the ice village without doing a little investigating into the elders first, and when I found this piece of information, I didn't believe it. I left the village without telling anyone what I knew, because I still didn't believe it. I sold my mother's hiruiseki to buy food and to pay rent on an apartment in this disgusting town and I got a job in a factory sewing clothes for demons weaker than I am because I still didn't believe it. I worked there for ten years, because I still didn't believe it. But then, one day, I met a man. Not just any man – a real man – like your friend Kuwabara."

"Oh here we go with that again…"

"What was I to do? I couldn't resist a man like that: no woman in her right mind could."

"Oh my!"

"I had sex with him. Again, and again, I had sex with him. And do you know what happened after that?"

"He paid you?"

Matsurika shot Doshu a dark look for her answer before continuing, her next words spoken with so much excitement she was literally shaking all over: but the words she said increasingly bit into Botan's very soul.

"I-is that true?" she asked, when Matsurika finished speaking and merely ran her fingers through her hair.

The ice maiden nodded and Botan turned to Doshu, who looked only curious by the news: though perhaps that was not because she had been friends with Hiei and Yukina for several years.

"Yukina doesn't know that," Botan concluded. "She can't know that. Hiei definitely doesn't know that – if he did, he wouldn't hate Kuwabara so much – or, wait, maybe he would hate him even more…"

"You cannot tell anyone else about this," Matsurika warned. "Not even Yukina or Hiei."

"What?" Botan echoed.

Matsurika shook her head.

"As much as I would like the devastation that would follow if this secret became widely known, I have kept it secret, and so must you," she insisted. "You may tell the leader of the ice village what I have told you, you may threaten to tell the others, but you must never speak of it again after that moment. Do you understand?"

Botan paused long enough to consider the fact that she felt what she had been told was information that Yukina had a right to know before answering.

"Well I do understand why that shouldn't be public knowledge," she carefully replied.

"Good," Matsurika replied. "So what are you waiting for? Go deal with Uso's human friend and get Yukina out."

Botan turned to Doshu.

"You want to help Spirit World too, right?" Doshu asked her.

"Yes," Botan confirmed. "We should check out the situation, at least. It didn't look good when we checked on them."

"I suppose not."

Botan opened up her notebook and placed it down on the bed, and again, Doshu and Matsurika leaned over to look at the pages.

"What is this?" Matsurika asked. "Looks like a bunch of cat people and some shapes."

"This is the SDF plan for the border expansion in Demon World," Botan replied, ignoring the incredulous and sceptical looks the two demons gave her. "Sorai and Oho are stationed at the ridge, which is where the existing border stands, and they were to stay there. Their job was to take the barrier down across the area of expansion, and then begin extending it out. Rinbai and Shun-Jun are stationed at the new proposed line for the barrier to be erected, and they are building the barrier there, working back towards Sorai and Oho. Meanwhile, Saito and Hiro are working back-to-back down the middle, fighting off any demons who get in the way and looking out for any problems interrupting the work of the other 2 teams."

Matsurika was looking at Botan in a very strange way, and it was starting to irritate the ferry girl.

"What?" she asked, pushing her fists into her hips.

"I think you might be some sort of genius, but at the same time, I already know you're cutting yourself up over an emiko, and it just doesn't fit together in my mind, especially when you have a real man like Kuwabara in your life."

"Well Missy, it's all a matter of personal taste! And, for the record, I'll have you know that Kuwabara, when he first met me, was quite enamoured with me, but I chose not to act upon it, as I did not feel the same way about him."

"Oh that settles it, you're just an idiot, and the highly coded and yet highly detailed information in your notebook is just a happy coincidence."

Matsurika moved away from the bed, leaving Botan stewing in her own fury.

"We should go," Doshu suggested. "Where do you think we should go first?"

"Well, sensibly, if Kurama is tied up – almost literally tied up – we should set him free first of all," Botan replied. "If we tell him to go to Spirit World and help, while he does that, we can rescue Yukina, and bring her to Yusuke and Kuwabara, who should already be on their way there anyway, and then we can all go to Spirit World and help out where we can. I can't approach the SDF to help them as I am, they will fight me off as just another demon, so going there first would be a waste of time, so the quickest way I can get help to them is to free Kurama."

"Right… What about Uso?"

"We can deal with her once we help Spirit World."

"But Botan…"

Botan turned to Doshu, finding her looking at her with a look that bordered on despair.

"You're running out of time," Matsurika offered from across the room. "Every second longer you let Uso continue in your life, the less chance you have of ever taking it back. She could seal your fate at any moment."

"But I'll know if that happens," Botan replied. "You said I would get stronger."

"You understand that once it happens, you can never go back?" Doshu asked.

Botan shrugged.

"I can't let my friends face danger when I am able to help them," she plainly said. "Just the same as when I jumped to catch you Doshu: I didn't even think about how I would land or how bad it would be. The consequences aren't important, what's important is that we act now, that we do the right thing now. The rest will work itself out."

Doshu hopped over to the pile of arrows.

"I'll get you feathers for these arrows," she said.

"And I'll attach them," Botan replied. "And then, it's off to the living world we go."

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Botan and Doshu set out to make things right, starting with freeing Kurama and Keiko. Keiko doesn't recognise Botan, but, as hurtful as that is for her, Botan presses on and goes to the ice village to free Yukina: where she reveals the truth about the ice maidens. **Chapter 14b: Release**

 **A/N:** The secret of the ice maidens is actually voiced next chapter (since it wasn't in A story, and I skipped over it in this chapter).


	31. B Release

**Chapter 14b: Release**

Botan kept her energy suppressed as Doshu silently swooped down, positioning her onto a sturdy tree branch that was concealed, but afforded her an excellent view of the clearing Maya was holding Kurama and Keiko in. Kurama was standing in the body of some sort of troll creature – the okui, as Doshu had called it – and Keiko was tied up and on her knees. Maya was standing in front of them both, her back to Botan, who, in her current position, was facing Kurama and Keiko directly.

In her head, Botan had mapped out everything she had Doshu must do, and she had prepared herself accordingly. Unwilling to lose her notebook again, she had found in Uso's apartment another buckle-fastening garter like the one that held her knife, and thread it through a large pouch that happily housed her notebook and then attached the whole thing around her leg opposite the knife. She had a substantial length of rope wound around her waist – something she felt she was going to need to get to Yukina – and she and Doshu had made up every one of the arrows at their disposal, cramming them into the quiver. It seemed like a lot of ammunition, but Botan knew that she could quickly burn through it if they ran into any trouble.

"Botan?" Doshu whispered.

"What is it?" Botan whispered back as she quietly slipped an arrow out of the tightly-packed quiver at her shoulder.

"You must hit your target," Doshu replied. "There is no margin for error: if you miss, you will do greater damage to Kurama. You must hit it directly on its one weak spot."

"I can do that," Botan insisted, positioning her arrow against her bow.

"You haven't consistently hit your targets in the past," Doshu pointed out. "But this is one you must hit."

"It's fine. I have to... Just relax. Just breathe, and believe."

Botan glanced back over her shoulder at Doshu, who nodded.

"Get your aim," Doshu advised. "Once you have the shot prepared, we will have only a single breath to prepare it: if we show any of energy before then, Maya will know we are here. We cannot reveal ourselves until the last possible second."

"Got it," Botan said as she pointed her heart-shaped arrow at the actually quite noticeable pink spot on the okui. "We take one deep breath in, then we power up as we exhale. I will take one more breath in, and then I fire. Go."

Botan and Doshu breathed in, and then breathed out, their combined energy flaring around them. As she inhaled again, Botan saw Maya stiffen as she clearly noticed their presence and so, without any further hesitation, Botan released her arrow, which shot off, sparking and blazing through the air before punching into the okui.

Botan lowered her bow, and neither she nor Doshu breathed as they watched on. At first, for a brief, horrible moment, nothing happened, and the ferry girl panicked that she had missed her target.

But, as smoke began billowing out of the point of injury, Doshu raised herself up.

"You did it, Botan!" she cried.

"Then let's go, quickly!" Botan said.

Botan hooked her bow over her shoulder and Doshu grabbed the straps over her shoulders again, hoisting her into the air. As they raced across the clearing, Botan whipped out her serrated knife. Doshu swept her past Keiko's back, and, holding her knife in both hands, Botan chopped down through Keiko's bonds, freeing her instantly. They rose up into the air again – mostly to escape the smoke streaming out of the okui, which was acrid and suffocating – and Botan looked back down, trying to get her bearings, intent on finding Keiko and helping her up: but as soon as her eyes located Keiko, both Botan and Doshu gasped as they saw Keiko lung at Maya, slapping her harder than Botan had ever seen Keiko slap anyone. Maya spun around in almost a full circle before she dropped to the ground, and Keiko was on her without hesitation, holding her down.

"Take me down," Botan said to Doshu.

"Are you sure?" Doshu asked. "It doesn't look like Keiko needs any more help from us: looks like she's more than capable of handling herself..."

"Just take me a little closer."

Doshu lowered Botan until they were just a few feet above and a few feet away from Keiko, at which point Botan held up a hand to tell her friend to hold her steady. She heard Keiko cough in the smoke, her position barely visible to Botan, the smoke was so very dense and dark.

"Keiko, are you alright?" Botan asked, resisting the urge to push through the darkness and throw her arms around her haggard friend.

Keiko looked about herself desperately at the sound of Botan's voice, and Botan felt her heart soar: her good, clever, sweet Keiko had recognised her voice! Keiko eventually paused, squinting in Botan's general direction. After all she had been through, Botan wanted nothing more than to reveal herself, to reunite with Keiko and Kurama. But, she reminded herself with a great effort, she was needed in Demon World, where Yukina was potentially facing execution, and she had to put that effort ahead of her own needs.

"Keiko, I have to go," she said, more telling herself as much than relaying the information to Keiko. "Can you manage to hold Maya? Will you be alright?"

"Isn't Maya your friend, Uso?" Keiko responded.

Botan's heart sank once more: apparently even Keiko thought she was that wretch Uso. She swallowed hard, a shiver passing over her as tears threatened. It was even harder having Keiko unable to recognise her than it had been having Yusuke and Kuwabara pass right by her, as they had done back in Demon World. She took a deep breath and sighed quietly, trying to just breathe and relax before she spoke again.

"Will you tell Kurama he is needed in Spirit World?" she asked, keeping her words focused in order to keep herself focused on what she had yet to do. "There is a problem there, and his assistance is urgently needed. When he comes around, tell him to hasten there. And Keiko?"

"What?" Keiko responded, sounding irritated, as though she hated Botan.

"Please take care of yourself," Botan said to her, struggling to keep her voice steady as she spoke.

Keiko appeared displeased, but Botan did not hesitate to find out why. Her heart could not take any more harsh words from her friend, and she really had to get to Yukina, so she signalled Doshu to take her away, which her demon friend swiftly did.

"This won't be easy," Doshu warned as they headed back towards the portal to Demon World.

"I have a plan," Botan replied, moving her hands to the length of rope she had wrapped around her waist. "Just get me there, and I will get us in."

"I hope we're not too late..." Doshu said.

"Don't say that, Doshu!"

"I feel personally responsible, I was the one who reported Yukina to the ice village: I swear I had no idea they would burn her alive! I thought she would just waste time going back there, that it would just keep her busy for a few days."

"It's awful, I'm hoping Matsurika was wrong. I'm hoping Yukina is just still there because she was catching up with friends, and not because they've put her in a cage to set her on fire. She's my friend and she's Hiei's sister, and if anything has happened to her, I will pass Matsurika's rage onto the ones responsible."

"Matsurika said no violence."

"Let's hope we don't need to resort to violence. We did such a good job taking care of that okui, I'm confident we can do this, and then get to Spirit World and help the SDF."

"What about you?"

Botan looked up at Doshu.

"Me?" she asked.

"You're running out of time," Doshu replied. "You could lose your chance to take your life back."

"Doshu, do you remember what I said to you back in Demon World?"

Doshu glanced down at Botan, giving her a warmer version of the flat look she so often gave her.

"Right," she said. "You're name is Botan, and who Botan is is someone who doesn't let her friends down when they need her."

"Exactly," Botan said with a nod of her head. "I didn't let you down, and I won't let Yukina or my friends in Spirit World down. We can deal with Uso after. It won't take long to tell Yukina to go home and then check up on the SDF. We'll be done before you know it."

"I hope you're right."

Doshu swept over a purple swampland in Demon World before ascending sharply to rise above a dense, low-hanging fog. For a long time, they flew over thick fog, and during that time, Botan found herself reflecting on how horrible it had been to first have Yusuke and Kuwabara look right through her, and then have Keiko speak so contemptuously to her, mistaking her for Uso. But, just as Doshu had said the first day they met, she basically was Uso now: which meant that what they were really heading into was one more situation with one more friend who would not even recognise her.

The idea occurred to Botan that if her fate was sealed, if the change became permanent, she might not ever manage to convince anyone that she had ever been the real Botan: her friends may very well be lost to her forever.

Maybe Doshu was right: maybe she ought to be focusing her efforts on finding Uso and taking back her life.

"Stop!" Botan yelled.

Doshu stopped immediately, hovering on point and looking down at Botan curiously.

"Take me down," Botan told her.

"We're almost there," Doshu replied.

"Take me down!" Botan insisted. "Right now!"

"Okay, if you say so..."

Doshu, despite sounding hesitant and looking confused, duly lowered Botan to the mountainside, placing her on her feet by a large rock a short way from a lake. Doshu landed on the ground herself and hopped over to the lake to take a drink, but Botan's attention was on something she had spotted from the sky. She slowly crouched down, reaching out her hand to touch the cold, damp length of cloth on the ground.

It was one of Kuwabara's famous headbands: the one he wore when he felt he needed to defend Yukina.

Botan gingerly picked it up, spreading it out across her open palms. She could feel herself growing close to tears again, her mind suddenly gripped by the idea that her friends had just accepted Uso in her stead, and moved on with their lives without her.

What if, when she finally did reveal the truth to them, they chose Uso over her willingly?

Botan slowly stood up and folded up Kuwabara's headband, slipping it into the pocket of her shorts. Again, she was reminded that the masque she still wore served the convenient purpose of soaking up and concealing tears shed.

"Are you okay?" Doshu asked her.

"I don't know," Botan replied, shaking her head. "I just know that..."

Botan could not admit out loud the conclusion she had come to in her mind: that she had already lost to Uso. Even if, by some miracle, she found Uso and managed to take her own energy back, Uso had done enough damage to change everything permanently anyway. Botan literally felt like there was nothing she could do right then that would either makes things any better or any worse.

The only thing that she could do was to make sure her friends were safe after the evil Uso had inflicted upon them: and the thought of Yukina burning alive was all the motivation she needed to focus on exactly that mission.

"Let's go Doshu," she said.

Doshu nodded and duly picked Botan up again, flying her up the mountain, following a specific path until she was forced to rise higher to avoid ground-level winds, fog and drifting snow. As they moved over a grey swirling mass, Botan unravelled the rope from around her waist.

"Alright, here's the plan," she said. "I'm going to tie one end of this piece of rope to an arrow, and then fire the arrow into the village to give us an anchor point, so that I can pull us down."

"Right, but how will you find a suitable target to hit?" Doshu asked.

"I don't know," Botan admitted as she tied one end of the rope to an arrow. "Take me in as close as you can, until it's difficult to hold me steady. I'll figure it out from there."

"That doesn't sound like much of a plan Botan, but okay..."

Botan wound the rope around her right arm and then readied the arrow against her bow, raising it to fire as she focused her attention on the swirling mess of clouds beneath her in the hope that something would stand out. She saw a flicker of orange light, something that sent a rush of panic through her, as it was surely a flame, bright and brilliant against the dull grey of the clouds overhanging the ice village. The clouds swirled and swirled around, and, briefly, Botan caught a glimpse of a white building, a tall rooftop that stretched up into the lower limits of the grey clouds.

"Bingo," she whispered, before transferring her energy into her arrow and firing.

The arrow, glowing and blazing with demon energy, pierced into the clouds, the speed, energy and intrusion of the pointed arrow cutting a circular hole through the clouds, creating a small window for Botan and Doshu to glimpse down through.

"Oh, oopsie!" Botan muttered as her arrow slammed into the peak of a large building, cracking through the ice-coated rooftop, several tiles and a few bricks falling loose.

Botan hooked her bow over the crook of her elbow and gathered up the rope in both hands until it was taut, tugging at it experimentally to ensure it was secure before gripping onto it tightly.

"Alright Doshu, hold on, we're going in," she called up to her friend.

"I'll try to keep you steady, so we can approach in a straight line and we aren't thrown off-course," Doshu replied.

Botan nodded and she began pulling them down, grabbing one hand ahead of the other, slowly pulling them into the vortex of angry grey clouds. The wind buffeted them mercilessly, but Doshu fought it as best she could with her wings, holding them both on a reasonably steady course. It became difficult to breathe, and, as ice shards melted into her skin, Botan was thankful for the talisman Matsurika had given her, something that was proving invaluable, as she barely felt any colder than she had back in the living world.

As they moved deeper into the clouds, the view of the village became clearer and clearer, and the sight of Yukina and another ice maiden locked into a cage surrounded by wooden logs, a decrepit old lady standing over it with a lit torch in her hand made Botan's energy flare, and with renewed vigour she hauled hard on the rope, finally pulling herself and Doshu clear of the cloud cover.

The sudden loss of support and Doshu's inability to respond in time left them plummeting the last twenty or so feet down to the village, but before they hit the ground Botan was prepared and Doshu managed to spread out her wings to slow the descent slightly. Botan landed in a low crouch, sheltered entirely beneath her partner's giant wings.

"Are you okay?" Botan whispered to Doshu.

"Absolutely," Doshu confidently replied.

Botan nodded and stood up straight and Doshu duly flattening herself against Botan's back. The old woman with the torch took a step forwards and, sensing she was trouble, Doshu put out her wings again, giving Botan a larger appearance that seemed to work as an intimidation tactic, as the old woman moved no further.

"What are you?" she asked. "How did you get here? And what do you want with us?"

Botan smiled, the thought of how that evil woman would soon be broken by what she had come to say instantly making her feel better despite what had been about to happen to Yukina.

"I come bearing a message," Botan declared. "One that you would be wise to listen very carefully to."

The old woman pointed her free hand at the bow Botan still had hooked over one arm.

"We don't tolerate violence in this village, lower your weapons – all of them – before you approach!" she squawked.

Botan nodded – she had expected as much after Matsurika had spoken of how a violent attack on the village would only get her instantly expelled – and she duly crouched down and placed her bow down in the snow. She slowly removed her heavily-packed quiver, waiting as Doshu shuffled her feet to allow her to unhook it from her shoulder, and she placed it down next to her bow. She already knew that the knife sheathed at her thigh was too easily recognisable as the cruel weapon that it was for her not to drop it along with her bow and arrows, and so, with a flicker of a guilty look, she planted her left foot onto one of the larger bricks she had dislodged from the house she had struck with her arrow, and removed the garter that held her knife in place. She then dropped it into the snow next to her other weapons and held up her hands in submission, taking slow and steady steps forward, moving as close to Yukina's location as she felt she could: when she saw the old lady twitch, she stopped, finding herself quite close to the edge of the pyre.

"Don't come any closer!" the old lady warned her.

"I wonder what sort of threat that is," Botan said sarcastically. "Given that you just told me you don't tolerate violence..."

Botan pointedly looked over the cage holding Yukina and Rui and the pyre around them, before her eyes finally rested on the still flaming torch in the leader's hand. She understood that she could not be overtly aggressive, but she did at least want to make the point that the old lady before her was an outright hypocrite: this was the woman who had cast out Hiei for being a fire demon and being too cruel, when he had been a newborn baby, and yet she was standing brandishing fire with the intention of burning two of her own people alive.

"And I wonder how you can justify what you appear to be doing here, if you truly don't tolerate violence..." Botan added, moving her eyes to the dull old woman, looking her directly in the eye.

"Mind your own business!" the old woman spat at her. "Deliver your message and then depart immediately!"

Botan smiled again as she again anticipated how humbled the nasty creature before her would be when she found out that her little secret was known, that her little secret – the little game she played with her people – could be on the point of being revealed. As though she actually already knew what was coming, the old lady faltered just slightly. Botan so badly wanted to jump up on top of the cage Yukina was in and shout out the truth for all present to hear, but she knew that she had to keep her promise to Matsurika, and so she forced back that thought before continuing.

"My message is of a rather sensitive nature," she said, one hand moving to cover her lips as she tried to conceal just how much the thought of revealing the secret actually amused her.

"Then pass it only to me," the old lady answered.

"It isn't written down," Botan said, waving away the old ice demon's outstretched hand. "This message is so sensitive, it could not be written down, lest the information fell into the wrong hands: something I'm sure you wouldn't want."

The old lady slowly retracted her hand, the look on her face implying that there was at least a small part of her already anticipating what was coming.

"I must whisper the message to you," Botan told her in a loud whisper. "I'm going to approach you now – and don't try anything with that torch as I do, or I will not hesitate to shout my message loud enough that all of Demon World will hear it."

Botan then began taking slow and steady steps forward again, closing the gap between herself and oldest ice maiden. The old woman was quite short, and with a hunched back, she was shorter still, and so Botan had to lean over her to being her lips in close to her ear. She chose the woman's right ear, as she was holding the torch in her left hand, and she felt it wise to stay as far away from the flames the old woman was apparently so keen to use on someone that day.

"I know the truth about your lie," Botan whispered into her. "I know the truth about the conception of an emiko: I know it's entirely dependent on the gestation period. I know you're a liar, and I know the women here would feel very differently about the life you force upon them if they knew the truth."

Botan smiled and straightened up again, the horrified look on the old lady's face and the way the lit torch fell from her hands and fizzled out in the snow enough of a reward. A small part of Botan had been concerned that what Matsurika had told her might not be true, even though Matsurika's own lifestyle was proof enough that it must be; but the look on the old lady's face was undeniable proof that the lie Matsurika had spoken of was very, very real.

The villagers gasped, but the sound of it seemed to bring the old lady back to her senses, some clarity appearing in her previously hazed over grey eyes. Sensing an attack was imminent – she knew she would not get through breaking out Yukina without meeting some sort of resistance – Botan leapt back a step, landing as the old lady raised her arms and fired out a blast of cold air and demon energy. Botan stood her ground, crossing her arms in front of her face and focusing all her energy into deflecting the attack. She had not expected any assistance from Doshu, but she she was grateful when she found large blue wings curling around her and helping to defend against the attack.

When the attack ended, Botan found that any part of her that had made contact with the energy was covered in water, and all around her, there were small wet holes in the snow: something she was sure she had Matsurika's talisman to thank for. She slowly lowered her arms to her sides and Doshu shook the excess water off her feathers and then tucked her wings back down. When she saw how breathless and panicked the old lady looked, Botan smirked in spite of herself.

"Was that your best shot?" she asked.

The old lady's jaw dropped and her thin eyes widened open, and, for the briefest moment, she actually looked scared. Botan casually shook the excess water from her hands as she waited for the old lady to answer her.

"Who are you?" she eventually demanded. "Take off that mask and let me see your face!"

"You're a fine one to talk about "masks"..." Botan replied, throwing her a sly look.

The old woman snarled but Botan was two steps ahead of her, and was sheltered behind her arms and Doshu's wings long before the second assault reached her. This time Botan could actually hear water punching into the snow all around her. Again though, the attack did not last long, and it was certainly no more than she could handle, and soon she was shaking off her hands again and Doshu was flicking the ends of her wings to shake off the water. Botan took a step forwards, intent on telling the old woman that it was time to stop wasting effort and get to releasing Yukina: but apparently the old woman was a stubborn and stupid as she was cruel, as she tried yet again to attack.

This time she hit harder. Botan had to push more energy into defending herself, her feet creaking into the snow as the force of the blast threatened to push her back. She barely held her ground, but she remained immune to the cold, and the ice still melted instantly upon contact with her body. When the third attack finally ended, Botan saw the old lady fall to one knee, struggling to breathe, clearly weakened, clearly having expended almost all of her energy.

Botan and Doshu again shook off the water from their arms and wings respectively, and, finally, it seemed that Botan had gotten through to the stubborn old ice maiden, as she finally said the words the ferry girl had been waiting to hear.

"What do you want?"

"Well for a start, I'd like you to stop doing that," Botan replied. "It's incredibly rude!"

The leader glared at her as though she thought attacking someone over and over was somehow acceptable behaviour.

"But, more seriously, I came here for two things," Botan continued, taking on a more serious tone and expression. "And if you don't comply with my demands, I will shout out your dirty little secret from the highest rooftop in this village."

She pointed to the highest rooftop in the village, turning to look at it, finding herself looking at the building her arrow was still embedded into, noticing then just how badly she had damaged it with her shot. An awkward smile rippled over her lips as she eyed the damage she had done to the roof with her arrow, both feeling that her argument had just lost some of its credibility and worrying that she appeared to have more strength than she gave herself credit for: which could of course be indication that her fate had been sealed.

"You want riches?" the old lady asked, the question drawing Botan's attention back to her. "You can take the girl who produces the finest stones: Kaoru, give her your daughter!"

Everyone turned to a white-haired ice maiden standing beside a girl barely half her height and identical in appearance. Botan gasped at the very idea, turning sharply back to the horrid old lady before her.

"Your heartless monster!" she cried. "I'm not here to kidnap an innocent child – what sort of monster do you think I am?"

Botan felt doubly insulted, as someone thinking so little of her almost only confirmed that her fate had been sealed, that she was indeed damned to live as a demon.

"Then what did you come here for?" the old woman asked.

"I came here to tell you to release Yukina," Botan flatly replied, no longer caring for ambiguity.

"Yukina is tainted," the old ice maiden snarled. "Her tears are not so valuable."

"This isn't about tears," Botan snapped. "But speaking of tears, you and I both know I can make you shed some, so how about you just release Yukina?"

Botan felt like she was even starting to sound demonic, but she told herself that if it helped free Yukina, it would be worth it. The old woman, despite looking incredibly reluctant to do so, hauled herself to her feet, dragging herself over to the cage and opening the lock. She grabbed Yukina's arm and pulled her forwards. Yukina stumbled out, but rather than looking pleased as Botan had expected her to, she turned her head to look back at the other ice maiden still in the cage, sealed there once more as the old lady locked the door on her.

"Take her and begone," the old lady said, pushing Yukina towards Botan.

The old lady collapsed to her knees, still clearly very weak. Botan turned her attention to Yukina, who had her back turned to her, one arm reaching out towards the prison she had just been freed from.

"Rui?" Yukina said in a small voice.

"Don't worry about me Yukina, please," the ice maiden inside the cage insisted. "Please just go! Take this chance and be happy!"

Botan sighed, turning her attention to the old lady again.

"If we do leave here now, what will you do with Rui?" she asked.

Yukina tuned to Botan, but Botan kept her focus on the old lady, who slowly lifted her head, giving her a hard, cold glare.

"I see," Botan said, realising then that Rui would simply be burned alive the second she and Yukina left. "In that case, you had better give me Rui, too."

Yukina gasped, bringing her fists up to her face as she smiled up at Botan: but Botan could not bring herself to look at Yukina, since it was already evident that she had no idea who she was, and it was getting too painful watching her friends look at her with cold and questioning eyes.

"Hurry up, I do have other things to do today," Botan urged the old lady, flicking a hand at her contemptuously.

The old lady gave her one last glower before hauling herself up again, and again opening the cage, this time pulling out Yukina's friend Rui. Rui stumbled over the logs of the pyre and fell into Yukina's waiting embrace: something that was even harder for Botan to witness, as she felt she was the one Yukina ought to be hugging.

"Now get out of here before I change my mind!" the old ice maiden snarled. "And never return!"

Botan nodded, deciding to stick to the task at hand: she knew Yusuke and Kuwabara would still be somewhere between where she had found Kuwabara's headband and the stormy mountain peak, probably lost in the same blinding blizzards she had been able to fly over.

"I said two things," she said.

"I released two prisoners," the old lady replied.

"That doesn't count," Botan answered her. "I have friends waiting for me on the mountain. You will call off the storms until Yukina, Rui and I have left the village and liaised with our friends. They, unlike the three of us, cannot navigate the storms."

"How dare you ask me to expose our village to outsiders!"

Botan smiled as the idea of Yusuke and Kuwabara arriving in the village occurred to her.

"Did I mention that my friends are both men?" she said.

"Out of the question!" the old lady roared.

"Very well, have it your way," Botan replied with a shrug, before turning face the gathered villagers. "Ladies, comes closer and listen carefully, because what I'm about to tell you is something you are definitely going to want to hear!"

"Stop!" the old lady yelled.

She reached out her hands and stumbled forwards a few steps, looking to be still weakened from her earlier exertions. Botan turned to her expectantly.

"It would be quite a pickle if I did announce your little secret and then those men came here," she said. "Can you imagine? Everybody knows the truth, and then two very attractive, virile men come strutting in here–"

"Just go!"

The ice maidens all gasped and yelped as suddenly everything stopped. The snow stopped drifting, the winds fell silent and still, the clouds dissipated and the fog with it: it was, Botan mused, probably the first time any of them had even seen the red skies of Demon World or felt the air from outside of their enclave.

"Girls, let's go," Botan said to Yukina and Rui. "There's nothing more for us here now."

Rui nodded and walked towards her. Botan indicated for her to lead the way out of the village – mostly because she herself had no idea how to leave without flying – and Yukina started after her. However, as Yukina passed the old lady, the evil dictator muttered a highly derogative remark, clearly aimed at Yukina, who stopped immediately upon hearing it.

"Just ignore her," Botan advised. "She's just a mean old lady with no love in her life. She can't hurt you ever again."

Botan thought her words would be enough for mild-natured Yukina to walk on: but instead, she squared her jaw and rounded on the old woman.

"What did you just say?" she asked her. "Say it again. Say it loud enough for everyone to hear if you are to say it at all."

Botan was too shocked to even attempt to intervene, and so she watched on as the old lady complied with Yukina's request.

"I said good riddance to a dirty whore," she said, sounding almost proud of herself.

"That's what I thought you said," Yukina said, grabbing at her kimono and pulling it up until she had exposed her shins.

Botan held up a finger, but words failed her when Yukina marched back up to the pyre and began kicking away the logs.

"Um, Yukina?" Botan managed as a log shot by her. "We should just leave..."

Yukina ignored her, kicking harder and harder, until she was launching logs high into the air. A moment later, Rui was at her side, copying her actions.

"What's happening?" Doshu whispered.

"Well... I guess..." Botan began. "We may as well hang for a sheep as a lamb."

"What?" Doshu grunted.

Botan leapt over to join Yukina and her friend, kicking away the logs of the pyre, spreading them far and wide, clearing the area around the cage. Once the logs were suitably dispersed, Botan turned to Yukina, only to find the tiny ice maiden attempting to uproot the cage itself.

"Help me," she said, glancing at Rui and Botan each in turn.

"If you say so," Botan muttered.

All three grabbed at the cage and began pushing it, slowly breaking it loose from the ground. Behind them, Botan could hear the old lady moving around, gathering up what little energy she had left, preparing herself to attack them from behind while they were distracted and unable to defend themselves or block any assault. Yukina turned her head and met Botan's eyes, the sight of some of the ice maiden's determination giving way to concern firing Botan up again.

"Keep going, we've got this," she assured her.

If it was what Yukina wanted, Botan – who was starting to believe this may be the last time she ever met with her friend – was determined to deliver.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Botan, Yukina and Rui rid the ice village of the cage and then take their leave: but not before Yukina manages to make Botan tell her what she whispered to the leader of the ice village in detail. Upon hearing the news, Yukina has a life-changing revelation. After reuniting with Yusuke and Kuwabara, Yukina and Rui head to Spirit World, and so do Botan and Doshu, but they find the situation there is much worse than they had expected, and Botan realises she has one more friend to rescue: Shizuru. **Chapter 15b: Liar**


	32. Don't Stop

**Chapter 15b: Don't Stop**

"Keep going, we've got this."

Yukina looked a little confused, but Botan nodded her head at Doshu, who, without any further cue, detached herself from Botan's back and turned on the leader of the ice village, holding her back. Yukina and Rui hesitated, as though confused, and the idea briefly occurred to Botan that perhaps they had both thought Doshu was an integral part of her body, that the wings that she flew with were her own.

"Come on, let's make sure they can't ever do this again," Rui said, her words drawing Yukina back to the task at hand.

All three woman shoved the cage as hard as they could, ramming their shoulders into it and pushing with all their might. After a bit, Doshu came around the other side of the cage and grabbed at it, hauling it back. Botan had never heard of partner demons before meeting Doshu, but she was starting to understand what their powers really were, as with the addition of Doshu's energy – which merged with Botan's demon energy as they both held onto the cage – the effort of moving the cage suddenly became much easier. The foundations of the cage cracked and crumbled, and it fell back until the only thing holding it from collapsing completely was Doshu, who was still hanging on at the other side.

Yukina and Rui moved around to one side of it, and, already knowing what they were thinking, Botan hurried over to join them. Doshu let go and moved out of the way as the three women hoisted the cage up in the air above their heads, carrying it to the cliff edge, where they flung it out of the village altogether. Botan peered down to watch it fall, with the storms stopped and fog cleared, her view being frighteningly clear of the sheer, deadly drop.

"Alright, we can leave now," Yukina said.

Botan turned to her, but the thought of leaving reminded her that she had to correct a few things before they departed. She held up one finger to indicate that she needed a moment, before dashing off to recover the weapons she had laid down upon entering the village. She first of all grabbed the rope still dangling from the arrow she had shot into one of the houses, pulling at it with the intention of recovering her arrow. She only had a finite supply of arrows with her, and she was concerned she may use them all up helping the SDF fight back demons obstructing their barrier-building efforts, and so every arrow counted.

Botan, apparently completely underestimating her own strength, tore the arrow down, taking a substantial chunk of masonry with it.

She blinked at the mess she had made before quietly placing down the rope, silently acknowledging that the arrow was lost, and then hurriedly moving over to where she had left her weapons, gathering them up. As she picked up her knife, she glanced over at the village leader, noticing then something that she might be able to use to her advantage. She quickly walked over to the old lady, who was on all fours on the ground, and placed her left foot on her shoulder as she reattached her garter, watching closely for what she hoped was about to happen.

As the old lady shed a tear, Botan swept her hand down and deftly caught it, recovering a unique, intricately patterned hirui stone with an exceptional gleam: it would surely be worth a lot if sold, but, Botan thought to herself, it was a priceless possession for a certain disgruntled ice maiden and former resident of the ice village.

"Thanks," she said to the old lady. "Matsurika will appreciate this."

The elderly ice maiden looked utterly horrified at the mere mention of her former follower's name, but that just made Botan smile again. Matsurika would be so pleased if she could see what had happened, how Botan had stopped the horrible execution of two ice maidens, how those same two ice maidens had then risen up and taken action to ensure no others would ever be executed in the same way. And a tear from the evil old lady who invented both that manner of execution and perpetuated the lie that enslaved all the ice maidens made the deal even sweeter. Botan happily slipped the hiruiseki into the pocket in her shorts and jogged over to join Yukina and Rui.

"Payment," she explained, when she caught them throwing her strange looks. "Lead the way."

She indicated for Yukina and Rui to guide her out and waved to Doshu to follow: her bird companion had been circling around checking for any potential threats, but, at Botan's signal, swooped down and flew low behind her as she followed the two ice maidens through the glacial village to a set of steps that led down to the peak of the mountain below: the place Botan was expecting them to be able to meet up with Yusuke and Kuwabara, as if the bandana she had found was any indication, they ought to be close.

On the way down the steps, Botan looked about the land below for any sign of her friends, becoming so distracted, she almost walked right into Yukina and Rui, who suddenly stopped on the very last step. Yukina turned to look back up at her, the look on her face strangely negative considering she has just been freed of an awful fate and was on her way back to the place she loved.

"What did you say to her?" she asked.

Botan blinked, momentarily wondering what Yukina was referring to.

"Don't say anything, Matsurika made us promise, remember?" Doshu muttered into Botan's ear as she grabbed onto the straps over her shoulders and pulled herself in against Botan's back.

"I can't imagine anything you could have said that would have made her give in to you like that!" Yukina added. "Whatever it was that you said, it was something very powerful."

Remembering that she was sworn to secrecy as Doshu had just reiterated, Botan chose to answer as diplomatically as she could possibly manage.

"Yukina, the most powerful thing is the truth," she said, inwardly noting that she was admitting what she had done whilst also voicing a criticism against that nasty masquerader Uso. "And I just let that heartless mess know that I know the truth."

"The truth?" Yukina echoed, glancing at Rui as though she thought her friend would explain further.

"You see Yukina, the word "believe" is just the word "lie" with two letters either side of it," Botan added, deciding to use Matsurika's own clever explanation. "And the way the ice village operates is that the leader lies to you all. And as long as you believe the lie, that way of life can always continue. But if the truth were ever known, well now, that would be the end of everything. She did as I asked because I threatened to make the truth known."

Botan smiled at Yukina and moved out one foot intent on continuing down the last steps, but, to her surprise, Yukina reached up her arm and put a hand on her stomach to halt her advance.

"You must tell me what you know," Yukina insisted. "I have a right to know."

"I-I can't tell anyone," Botan said, smiling nervously at her. "I promised!"

Yukina gave her a dark look that was worthy of Hiei, a look that almost anyone – even Kuwabara – could have witnessed and realised that the two were twins.

"I must know!" she insisted. "I will never return there, I would never want to, so I will never reveal it, but I, as an ice maiden, have a right to know what the truth is."

She made a good point, Botan mused. It was something so significant and it was something that was continuing to affect how she lived her life. Botan found herself recalling Matsurika telling the part of her life story where she had spoken about leaving the ice village and working in a low-paying job and hiding from men because she still believed the lie, and then how much happier and freer she had felt once she explored the truth. And, she mused, she had never actually sworn to Matsurika that she would keep the secret secret.

"Please Miss," Yukina begged. "Please... I was lied to about so much of my life. I was lied to about my mother's death, about my brother, I was even lied to in order to make me come here, to my own execution. Please tell me. Please. I just want to know. Don't you think I deserve to know?"

Botan's eyes welled up with tears, Yukina's words snapping through any sense of self-control she had left: how could she not tell her sweet, good friend the truth that she did so rightly deserve to hear?

"Oh dear, of course you do!" she gushed. "The truth is..."

Botan paused as Doshu pulled on her shoulder straps as though to warn her not to proceed: but she had already made up her mind.

"The truth is that an emiko isn't conceived from an ice maiden simply having a sexual relationship with a man," she explained. "The truth is, an ice maiden can only conceive a child during her gestation period – and even then, only during the first half of her gestation period – so only for the first three months of the time when she naturally conceives her daughter can she possibly also conceive a male child, an emiko. And yes, if she has sexual relations with a man – any man – during those three months, she will conceive an emiko – a powerful, forceful, exclusively male fire demon – but any other time in her life, it won't happen. In fact, other than that time in an ice maiden's life, it's impossible for her to conceive a child at all. An ice maiden could in fact actively have sex with a man every day of her life – except for those three months I mentioned – and she would never have another child outside of the baby girl she will automatically have on her 100th birthday."

Yukina looked a little odd, but before Botan could attempt to decipher what her expression actually meant, she turned to her fellow ice maiden.

"Miss Rui?" she asked. "Is that true? Could that be true?"

Botan noticed that Yukina was starting to form her hands into fists, and her demon energy was starting to rise. Doshu muttered an "uh-oh", and Botan wondered exactly what might follow: she had expected Yukina to be pleased when she heard the truth, as it meant she was free to pursue a more physical relationship with her beloved Kazuma.

"Well, actually, you know, yes, it may very well be," Rui said.

Yukina made a strange noise, but Rui appeared unconcerned by it, as she continued talking.

"Your mother met your brother's father three years before you or your brother were born," she said. "I always assumed she never actually lay down with him until she knew she had conceived you, and the elders said that was the case, that she had done so to try to conceal her pregnancy with an emiko. However sometimes when your mother was late back from one of her trips away from the village, I would go looking for her, and she would hurry over to me, her face flushed red, and she would be breathless, and your brother's father looked much the same…"

"That's what two people look like after they've just had–" Botan began, stopping abruptly when Doshu tugged painfully on the straps at her shoulders.

She respected that her bird partner was right, and said no more, the sight of Yukina literally shaking, her demon energy rising further still and her eyes starting to glow only confirming that saying no more on the matter was the best course of action.

"All this time I was with Kazuma..." Yukina growled.

"Yukina, are you alright?" Botan asked. "You don't seem alright."

"Of course I'm not alright!" Yukina snapped at her.

Botan recoiled as Yukina's energy spiked higher still, her entire body quivering, her shoulders and chest heaving, her heavy breathing becoming loud.

"All this time..." she muttered.

"This is surprising news for me too, Yukina," Rui said to her in a soothing voice, clearly trying to calm her down. "But this is good news, and we are free of the village now, so–"

"You don't understand!" Yukina snapped at her, instantly silencing her. "All this time I've held back all my urges because of the burden of a responsibility I now learn was imagined all along! You don't appreciate how manly Kazuma is and how difficult it's been for me to resist him all this time!"

"Oh my goodness," Botan muttered. "Hiei is going to actually kill me…"

"You shouldn't have told her," Doshu muttered back. "Now she's going to turn into a wild woman, just like Matsurika."

Botan gasped, and then gasped again as Yukina suddenly took off, somehow running across the surface of the deep snow on the mountaintop below, leaving a trail of blazing light behind her.

"Oh no, what have I done?" Botan wailed as she noticed that Yukina was charging right towards Kuwabara.

"We should follow her," Rui suggested, starting after Yukina.

"Right!" Botan agreed. "Come on Doshu, let's go, before she kills Kuwabara!"

Doshu duly took to the air, lifting Botan up and flying after Yukina. Botan screamed and clamped both hands over her mouth when Yukina literally body-tackled Kuwabara into the ground, the pair of them dropping through the deep snow, and before they had even fully hit the ground Yukina was grabbing at him and kissing any part of his face she could get at.

"Oh no, this is so bad…" Botan whispered into her hands. "Maybe it would be for the best if Uso just takes my life, because if Hiei ever catches up to me… Oh no…"

Doshu gently placed Botan down beside Yusuke, who was standing peering into the crater in the snow that Kuwabara was pinned down into by Yukina.

"Damn it…" Yusuke commented.

"Oh my!" Rui gasped as she joined him and caught sight of what was happening.

"Goodness!" Botan yelped.

Yukina then pried herself from Kuwabara, sitting back onto his midsection – though by then he was such a quivering, whimpering wreck of confusion and delight, he did not even appear to notice that she had moved – before licking her lips in a feral way and then hauling him up into a sitting position, sliding into his lap as she did so.

"I missed you," she told him.

"Oh gee Yukina... I missed you too baby..." Kuwabara replied, his voice strained, his tone tentative.

Yukina nodded before pulling him closer and pressing her mouth almost ridiculously hard over his.

"This is disgusting!" Yusuke said, his face twisting as Yukina and Kuwabara engaged in what was a both animalistic and awkwardly hungry kiss. "Damn it, look at them! They don't even care that we're watching right now!"

"Well you know, you really shouldn't be staring..." Botan scolded him.

"I can't look away!" Yusuke cried, his hands moving into his hair. "It's like a real bad car wreck: I don't wanna see it, but it's so disgusting and unbelievable, I gotta see it!"

"Yusuke..." Botan groaned.

"Also... It's kinda hot..."

"Yusuke Urameshi, behave yourself!"

Yusuke did then turn to face Botan, the distinct lack of a spark of recognition in his eyes serving like yet another stab to the heart for the ferry girl.

"What the hell are you?" he asked her, twisting the metaphorical knife and worsening her pain.

Botan tensed, trying to hold her emotions in check.

"And who the hell are you?" Yusuke asked, turning to Rui.

Rui leaned away from him, her eyes widening warily.

"Come here," Yukina said, finally removing her mouth from Kuwabara and waving a hand at Rui. "Come and meet Kazuma."

Rui bowed to Yusuke before moving over and kneeling down beside Yukina and Kuwabara.

"Kazuma, this is my good friend, Miss Rui," Yukina told Kuwabara.

"Oh, uh, hey," Kuwabara said to her.

Rui smiled and nodded her head at him.

"Miss Rui was my mother's best friend," Yukina continued. "She raised me after my mother died."

"Oh, I didn't know any of that," Kuwabara said.

"Miss Rui, this is Kazuma," Yukina said to her friend.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you," Rui said to him. "I never thought I would. Yukina has told me so many wonderful things about you."

"She has?" Kuwabara asked her. "You have?" he asked Yukina.

Yukina nodded, opening out her fists and sliding the flats of her palms up and down his chest.

"I told her how noble and manly and lovely you are, Kazuma," she said.

"Oh, okay..." Kuwabara muttered.

"He is very manly," Rui said.

Botan rolled her eyes – what was it with all the ice maidens being so infatuated with Kuwabara? Rui, as though to only further that theory, began eying Kuwabara over appreciatively: a total contrast to the fearful way she had regarded Yusuke.

"I understand why you were so keen to get back to him, Yukina," she concluded.

Botan's eyes almost popped out of her head.

"I was thinking Miss Rui could come and live in the human world too," Yukina said to Kuwabara.

"Oh right, sure," Kuwabara agreed, despite clearly not even taking in what was being proposed.

"She can have my room at your father's house," Yukina suggested.

"Are you sure, Yukina?" Kuwabara asked, hints of clarity appearing in his eyes at last "I mean, that room isn't very big, and if you have to share it–"

"No, Miss Rui can take that room, and I will come and live with you, Kazuma."

Kuwabara froze.

"You said after your exams you were going to get your own apartment, nearer your school," Yukina added. "I will come with you."

"B-but Yukina, I can only afford a little studio apartment," Kuwabara pointed out.

"That's okay," Yukina replied.

"A studio apartment means there's no bedroom, though," Kuwabara explained. "It's just a bathroom and then a living room with a kitchen area. I was just gonna get a big futon, roll that out at night and sleep on that."

"That's okay."

"But... There wouldn't be a room for you...?"

"Buy a bigger futon."

Kuwabara laughed nervously.

"Um... What?" he asked in a squeaky voice.

"Buy a futon that's big enough for us to share," Yukina replied.

"Well... Um... I guess... We could..."

"I can help you. Shizuru told me I can offer to sew people's clothes for extra money. I can do that while you're at school, to help pay the bills. And then I cook for you, and when you come home, I can feed you and then we can go to the futon together and make love."

"Holy shit!" Yusuke yelped.

"Yusuke, forget about that, you have to listen to me, right now!" Botan insisted, grabbing his jacket and shirt and forcing him around to face her.

She could no longer watch what was happening, it was torture knowing how Hiei would react to it all; and besides, she really did have to be on her way to Spirit World to deal with the issues there.

"We don't have much time," she said sternly, trying to regain some control of the situation through use of a firm, authoritative tone of voice.

Yusuke eyed her over, an insolent smirk appearing on his face.

"Hey, are you a bird?" he asked her.

"Never mind about that, Yusuke!" she snapped, refusing to let him question her identity and cause her any more heartache. "The leader of the ice village called off the storms to allow us to escape, but she won't hold back for long, we have to get out of here before she starts it all up again!"

"Oh damn, right, yeah," Yusuke agreed.

"Wait, there's more!" she said, tightening his hold of his clothing to hold him place, facing her. "There is trouble in Spirit World. The SDF's border expansion programme has gone wrong."

"What a shocker..."

"Yusuke, this is very serious!"

"Hey, how do you know my name?"

Botan hesitated, having to fight back the urge to yell the real answer right into his face: something she was certain would be a waste of time as long as she was still effectively a demon, and did not even have Uso with her to prove that someone else had taken her life.

"Who are you?" Yusuke asked her, his eyes narrowing with an air of suspicion.

"I'm a demon," she replied, feeling that ought to be explanation enough, since it was, after all, the main reason why he could not recognise her.

"I can see that, I meant what's your name," Yusuke responded.

"It doesn't matter what my name is," she dismissed. "What matters is that you go to Spirit World to help. Kurama is already on his way there–"

"Kurama?" Yusuke echoed.

"Yes, Kurama," she confirmed. "You must join him. I suggest, since the storms could start up again at any moment, all four of you get on Puu, Kuwabara can use his spirit sword to take you to Lord Koenma's office, and you can find out from Koenma where you are needed most, and by the time you've done that, Kurama should have caught up to you."

She then released Yusuke, stepping back from him, confident that she had made her point.

"Wait, Shizuru is still in prison in Spirit World!" Yukina said, jumping to her feet and moving to face Botan, alongside Yusuke. "What about Shizuru? Will she be alright?"

Botan wondered why Yukina was asking her that question, but she was saved the bother of having to find an answer as Yusuke spoke next.

"Your sister's in the slammer?" Yusuke asked, leaning past the others to look back at Kuwabara.

"Yeah... We should go get her out..." Kuwabara replied.

Botan sobered a little at the sight of Kuwabara trying to subtly cover his crotch with snow.

"Shizuru, right..." she muttered.

"We should do what she says, Yusuke!" Yukina said, tugging on Yusuke's arm. "If there is a problem in Spirit World, Shizuru could be in danger!"

"Right, okay," Yusuke agreed. "Let's... Let's do what Miss Hairdo here says."

Botan glared at him as he indicated her with his nickname, fighting back the urge to yell at him that Demon World air was not kind to a girl's hair, and she could not help the fact that it had become a little frizzy and unkempt, especially after battling through the gales over the ice village.

"Let's just go, we're running out of time," Doshu whispered, before opening her wings.

Botan nodded her agreement and Doshu lifted her out of the snow and into the air.

"Thank you for everything you did for us, Miss!" Rui called after her.

"Yes, especially what you've done for me!" Yukina added. "You've changed my whole life! I could never repay you for all you've done!"

"Don't worry about it," Botan called back down to them, silently hoping they would forget who had told them the truth of the lie, to save her any potential future problems with Hiei. "Just get to Spirit World, you're needed there."

"Wait!" Yukina cried. "Won't you at least tell us your name? You or your friend, you both were so wonderful!"

Botan sighed.

"It still hurts so much that they just don't recognise me," she moaned.

"It'll all be over soon," Doshu assured her.

"Please!" Yukina shouted after them.

Doshu turned around and started to fly away, but not before looking back over her shoulder and shouting back to Yukina.

"My name's Doshu."

Botan looked up at Doshu curiously.

"She asked for my name too," Doshu casually replied.

"I suppose so…" Botan said.

"Okay, so we're going to the place where the SDF are working in Demon World now," Doshu said.

"Well, no."

Doshu looked down at her.

"We should go to Spirit World and release Shizuru," Botan explained. "I know all the passcodes for all the prison cells. We will set her free. She shouldn't be there, and I feel responsible that she is."

"Uso was the one who got her put there, not you," Doshu pointed out.

"Yes and I am the one who let Uso over-power me and take my life," Botan argued. "Shizuru is my friend, and getting her out of there is my responsibility."

"If we break her out, won't it look like she escaped? Won't that make things worse?"

"We're not breaking her out, Doshu. I can open the locks, and, no matter what Uso has done to me, I am still a resident of Spirit World, and I can still protest a wrongdoing and I can still take action to set it right! We are going in there and we are releasing Shizuru."

"I'll do anything you ask, you know that now, but this seems risky – for you more than me."

"Well thank you for your concern, but you can park it. I need to get Shizuru out and send her back to the living world: I feel terrible that we left Keiko there facing Maya on her own. We don't know what sort of tricks Maya may still have up her sleeve. Shizuru will fix things there."

"Okay, so… Spirit World then?"

"Spirit World."

Doshu turned them both to the left before speeding off towards a portal out of Demon World.

* * *

Botan paused, her eyes roving over the countless scenes of chaos unfolding before her. Upon their arrival in Spirit World, Botan had found things to be unusually quiet, the lack of activity leaving her suspicious that something bad was happening deeper within the heart of her home world. She had hoped that her arrival there would be a pleasant experience, that the feeling of the fresh Spirit World air would reinvigorate her and give her the strength to carry on: but instead she found herself almost choking on it and longing to be back in Demon World.

Pushing aside the notion that this alone was perhaps indication that her fate had been sealed already, Botan had taken Doshu inside the temple and to the nearest console, where she had tapped into the security cameras around Spirit World, her intention being to try to find which part of Spirit World Shizuru was being held in. After all, she told herself, it was unlikely Shizuru would even be in a regular prison cell. As a human, well-known to Spirit World as a trusted ally, her alleged misdemeanour ought to have been looked upon with more leniency, and so she was probably merely being held in one of the ogre's rooms.

But as she scanned the surveillance footage she had found the majority of her fellow ferry girls gathered in the panic room, most of the ogres locked into their own rooms or else missing from their usual posts, and the regular prison was fully opened up, without a single prisoner in sight. Scanning further still, Botan started to see demons running riot through Spirit World, raiding files and vaults alike.

And then, ultimately, Botan found the cameras that watched over the high security prison, which, strangely showed a large number of demons crowding to try to get into the prison. When she switched to a camera inside the prison, she soon saw why however: the demons forcing their way in were trying out and eventually managing to guess the combinations to unlock the individual cells, slowly freeing cells packed with demons. It was unusual to see the high security prison so well-populated, but some of the faces contained there looked familiar, and Botan suspected that the cells were inhabited mostly by regular prisoners, relocated there when the current problems had first started surfacing in Spirit World

Switching views again, Botan saw that one of the cells still locked up contained Shizuru, smoking a cigarette and appearing calm, though her situation was clearly quite dire.

"Move, Doshu, we have to go!" Botan said urgently.

Doshu, who had landed at her feet, looked up at her curiously.

"Shizuru is in great danger, we have to get her out…" Botan added. "But how…?"

"What are you doing?" Doshu asked in a low voice, her head bobbing up and down to keep her eyes on Botan as she spoke.

"I'm thinking!" Botan snapped, hopping about from foot to foot as she tried to formulate a way to get Shizuru out past all the demons crowding in on her. "I've got it! We'll create a distraction – and I know just how to! Let's go!"

Doshu rose up and picked up Botan again, carrying her through the halls of the temple, following the directions Botan indicated. It was odd to be back home, flying through the temple without her oar – or even flying through the temple at all, as that was usually frowned upon – but Botan did not have long to linger on the idea.

"Over those railings, room 303!" Botan cried, pointing at the door she was seeking.

Doshu took her to the room, set on the third level of the temple, where Botan began punching in the key access code before her feet had even reached the ground. She glanced about herself to ensure there was no-one else around before opening the door and ushering Doshu into the room ahead of her. She then scurried in and closed the door. Doshu was looking around the room curiously – the lights were still out, but a small window at the back of the room let in just enough light to make the interior visible with the door closed.

"What are all these strange artefacts?" Doshu asked.

Botan pressed the tip of her index finger to her chin.

"As a demon, would you call these artefacts or treasures?" she asked.

"I guess some of them look quite valuable…" Doshu muttered thoughtfully.

"Pick one," Botan told her.

"What?"

"Quickly! Pick one!"

Doshu hopped around the room and eventually stopped in front of a gold cherub statue.

"This looks valuable," she concluded.

"Good," Botan said, grabbing up the hollow garden ornament.

She pulled off a tag that had been tied around the crook of the arm of the statue, turning it over to read the notes jotted there by the ogre who had sent the statue to room 303.

"Yes, this is perfect," she said, nodding her head. "This was stolen by a demon who thought it was made of precious metal, and depicted a sacred deity."

"What is it?" Doshu asked as Botan bustled her back out of the room.

"It's one of those little babies with a man face that pees in bird baths."

Doshu's face dropped, but Botan barely noticed, instead locking the door behind them and then wrapping her arms around the statue.

"Take me back down," she said to Doshu. "I'm going to use this "treasure" to lure the demons away from the prison. Once they are clear, you move in and remove Shizuru. Then I will attach an arrow to the statue and fire it back into the prison, and, if all goes well, the demons will run in after it, and I can lock them in there. If we can get most of them into lockdown, I can pick off any stragglers with my arrows. Meanwhile, you will take Shizuru to the exit strategy chute."

"The what?" Doshu asked as she lifted Botan over the railings again.

"There is a hatch in the roof above Lord Koenma's office," Botan explained. "If you drop Shizuru into it, it will take her down to his office, and she will be safe there. It's a bit of a bumpy ride down, but she will have a safe landing."

"We're relying a lot on luck."

"We have to. We need to get Shizuru to safety and then get out and stop the demons coming into Spirit World. That's our only hope of getting this madness back under control."

Botan guided Doshu to a darkened area just before the main atrium in the centre of the temple, where she made her companion stop, holding them in the air on point.

"Over there," she explained, pointing towards a raised rectangle of metal near the roof. "There isn't much room. You need to get Shizuru up to that point and drop her in."

"Look like it's a long way down," Doshu commented.

"She'll be fine, she's a tough girl," Botan replied. "Now let's go, go go!"

Doshu nodded and moved on again, taking them through the main atrium and onwards into the area the high security prison was located. There she quietly placed Botan down and waited for her cue. Botan held out the statue towards the crowd ahead of her, who all were facing away from her, trying to force their way into the prison to get to Shizuru.

"Ooh, look what I found!" Botan called out to them "It's the mysterious, valuable, treasured statue of..."

Botan looked back over her shoulder at Doshu.

"Give me the name of a place in Demon World known for having valuable things!" she hissed.

"How should I know that?" Doshu hissed back. "I live in scum city, remember?"

Botan turned back, panicking when she saw that some of the crowd had already turned towards her expectantly.

"Ooba-Gooba!" she blurted out.

She swallowed hard, reaffirming her hold of the statue as more of the crowd turned towards her.

"Oh my, I hope nobody tries to take this very valuable statue from me!" she loudly continued. "Whatever shall I do if somebody steals this from me? Oh no!"

Botan backed up a few steps as some of the group began to move towards her.

"Hold," she whispered to Doshu. "It's not clear yet."

Doshu moved to stand on her shoulders and together they watched the prison entrance carefully, waiting until the way on was clear enough for the bird demon to get to Shizuru and remove her from the area.

"Go," Botan told her. "And don't stop, no matter what!"

"Got it," Doshu agreed, before streaking past the approaching demons and into the prison.

Botan put one arm around the statue and unhooked her bow from her shoulder with her free arm, her attention flicking between the crowd advancing on her and Doshu's progress recovering Shizuru: she was going to have to time what she did next very, very carefully.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** Botan and Doshu rescue Shizuru and set about clearing the temple of demons: but along the way, Kurama tries to stop them. After escaping him, they gather up all capable fighters in Spirit World and move out to aid the SDF. **Chapter 16b: Liar**


End file.
